Costache Caragiale

Who was Costache Caragiale?

Costache Caragiale was a Romanian actor and theatre manager who had an important role in the development of the Romanian theatre.

Born in Bucharest, Wallachia, he made his stage debut in 1835 and, in 1838, organized a theatre company in Iaşi, Moldavia, which became part of the first Romanian National Theatre. He worked in many Romanian regional theatres, especially in Iaşi, Craiova and Botoşani, and encouraged the usage of plays by Romanian dramatists of the day, especially those of Vasile Alecsandri and Constantin Negruzzi. Between 1852 and 1855, Costache Caragiale was the first director of the National Theatre of Bucharest.

He also wrote a few comedies, such as O repetiţie moldovenească - "A Moldavian Rehearsal" and O soaré la mahala.

He is the uncle of Ion Luca Caragiale, a Romanian playwright. His younger brother Iorgu Caragiale was also an actor and theatre director.