Petre Ispirescu

Petre Ispirescu was a Romanian editor, folklorist, printer and publicist. He is best known for his work as a gatherer of Romanian folk tales, recounting them with a remarkable talent.

Petre Ispirescu began to publish Romanian folk stories in 1862, at the incentive of N. Filimon. His first collection of six folk tales appears in Taranul Roman and later as a booklet. Subsequently these tales were added to his renowned collection Romanian Fairy Tales, today a bibliographic rarity. He resumes his publishing work in 1872 with the collection Romanian Folk Tales. Riddles and Proverbs with a preface by B.P. Hasdeu, followed by Folk Anecdotes and Folk Tales in 1874 and The Life and Feats of Mihai Viteazu in 1876. He is praised for the deep and invaluable knowledge of the Romanian folk works.