Romanian poet Tudor Arghezi (1880-1967) is best known for his contribution to poetry and children's literature. By his real name Ion N. Theodorescu, Arghezi published his first volume of poetry when he was 47.

After a four-year term as an Orthodox monk at the Cernica monastery, he traveled abroad in 1905. After jobs in Paris and Geneve, he returned to Romania and started publishing works in the main magazines of the time. After the First World War, he was arrested along with other journalists and writers, he was then sentenced for having collaborated with the German authorities, and imprisoned in the Vacaresti prison until 1919.

Arghezi published his first volume of poems in 1927, titled Cuvinte Potrivite ("Fitting Words" or "Suitable Words"). In 1932, he published Flori de Mucigai ("Flowers of Mildew") and Poarta Neagră ("The Black Gate") - collections of poetry inspired by the years he spent in detention. He went on to write and publish works that made him known as an author of poems and short prose for children: Cartea cu Jucării ("The Toy-Laden Book"), Cântec de Adormit Mitzura ("A Song to Get Mitzura to Sleep"), Buruieni ("Weeds") and, the most popular of all, Zdreanţă ("Rag").