Caton Theodorian

Caton Theodorian (May 14, 1871 – January 8, 1939) was a Romanian playwright and prose writer.

Born in Craiova, his parents were Ion Theodorian and his wife Emma (née Carada). He began his education at the private C. Dima Popovici Institute in his native city, where his mother was the principal. He then attended Craiova's D. A. Sturdza College (1881-1885) and military high school (1885-1887). He left home in 1887, working for Teodor Popescu's theatrical troupe as a prompt, copyist and extra. He secured a government post in 1888, clerking for many years in various towns in the southern part of the country. He traveled to Austria, France and Italy. He worked as an editor for Adevărul and Naționalul. He headed ephemeral provincial publications such as Lumina (1890) and Râmnicul (1906). In Bucharest in 1919, he took part in the founding of Sburătorul magazine. He was vice president of the Romanian Writers' Society, member in the reading committee at the National Theatre Bucharest (1916), member of the arts directorate committee within the Arts Ministry (1923) and a founding member and president of the Society of Romanian Dramatic Authors (1923-1926; 1933-1939).

Theodorian's literary debut took place in Lumina in 1890. His first book was the 1891 collection of sketches and short stories Petale, following which he frequented Alexandru Macedonski's Literatorul circle for a while. Other volumes of short prose were Prima durere (1906), Calea sufletului (1909), La masa calicului (1911), Povestea unei odăi (1914), Cum plânge Zinica (1914) and Epice și dramatice (1921); he also authored the 1908 novel Sângele Solovenilor. His first play was the 1913 Ziua din urmă, staged at Bucharest's Modern Theatre by Marioara Voiculescu's company. He also wrote the plays Bujoreștii (1915), Nevestele domnului Pleșu (1921), Greșeala lui Dumnezeu (1929) and Jucării sfărâmate (1932). He translated books by Théophile Gautier, Émile Zola, Alexandre Dumas, fils and Arnould Galopin. Publications that ran his work include Adevărul, Naționalul, Revista literară, Literatorul, Ramuri, Luceafărul, Sămănătorul and Flacăra.