Title page of the novel Paradisul suspinelor (The Paradise of Sighs, 1930), with portrait by Marcel Janco
Ion Vinea (pen name of Ioan Eugen Iovanache; b. 17 April 1895, Giurgiu, d. 6 July 1964, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, short story writer, novelist and promotor of the avant-garde.
Together with Tristan Tzara, he founded in 1912 the magazine Simbolul (The Symbol), which also published drawings by Marcel Janco and Iosif Iser and texts by Adrian Maniu, Felix Aderca, Emil Isac and others, marking a transitional wave between symbolism and modernism/avant-garde. He also published several other magazines, out of which Contimporanul spanned the biggest number of issues and years. His manifesto Manifest activist pentru tinerime (Activist Manifesto for Youth), published in 1924 in Contimporanul, influenced the new wave represented by Ilarie Voronca, Stephan Roll and others (later grouped around Integral and Unu). Contimporanul was a very active revue, promoting the aesthetic of constructivism, publishing translations of international authors and associating itself with visual artists such as Constantin Brâncuși.
In spite of the radicalism of his articles and other activities, Vinea's poems were considered by critics rather moderate. In the Dada magazine the publication of his French volume of poetry Poupee dans le cercueil was announced, but none of his poems have been published in a volume until 1964, when the book Ora fântânilor (Hour of the Fountains) is out in stores in the month when its author died. The short story book Descântecul și Flori de lampă (The Incantation. Lampflowers, 1925) and the experimental novel Paradisul suspinelor (The Paradise of Sighs, 1930) were also considered as modernist in a rather eclectic form. The novels Lunatecii (The Lunatics) and Venin de mai (May Venom) were published posthumously and managed to gather in recent years moderate critical acclaim as examples of retro novels. Several reissues were published by the publishing house named after him, Vinea.