Panait Istrati

Panait Istrati (1927) Panait Istrati ( Romanian: [panaˈit isˈtrati]; sometimes rendered as Panaït Istrati; (August 10, 1884 – April 16, 1935) was a Romanian working class writer, who wrote in French and Romanian, nicknamed The Maxim Gorky of the Balkans. Istrati appears to be the first Romanian author explicitly depicting a homosexual character in his work.

Although he lived and worked mainly in Romania, due to his impact on French literature, Istrati is sometimes also labeled as "French writer".