CARAGIALE, COSTACHE

born March 29, 1815, Bucharest, Walachia, Ottoman Empire [now in Romania] died Feb. 13, 1877, Bucharest, Rom. actor-manager who helped to encourage the development of a unique Romanian drama. Caragiale made his stage debut in 1835 in Bucharest, and in 1838 he organized a theatre of contemporary drama in Iasi (now Jassy). During the next 15 years he worked with regional theatres, notably those in Iasi, Botosani, and Craiova, where he promoted the plays of the most talented dramatists of the period, including Vasile Alecsandri and Constantin Negruzzi. He returned to Bucharest in 1850, and two years later he was named director of the National Theatre. His nephew Ion Luca Caragiale became one of Romania's greatest playwrights, and his younger brother Iorgu was a successful actor and director in Iasi and other provincial towns. In 1887 Iorgu constructed his own theatre in Bucharest.