Constantin Tănase

Constantin Tanase (5 July 1880 - 29 August 1945) was a Romanian actor and writer for stage, a key figure in the revue style of theater in Romania. He was born into a working-class family in Vaslui, and his first professional experience as an actor came in the Yiddish-language theater troupe of Mordechai Segalescu. After completing gymnasium in 1896 and working for a time as a schoolteacher, he headed for Bucharest in 1899 and later worked in theater. In Bucharest in 1919 he founded the theater troupe Carabus, and over the course of 20 years established a tradition of humorous cabaret and revue theater that still continues in Romania, most notably at the Constantin Tanase Revue Theatre on Calea Victoriei. At Carabus he launched the careers of numerous performers, notably Maria Tanase and Horia Serbanescu. He died officially of complications from tonsillitis on 29 August 1945 in Bucharest, though it is rumored he was killed by the invading Red Army after satirizing Soviet soldiers, and he is buried in Bellu Cemetery. Streets in Bucharest and Oradea are named after him.