The Otilia Cazimir Museum (Muzeul „Otilia Cazimir”) is a memorial house in Iași dedicated to the poet, prose writer, translator, and journalist Otilia Cazimir. She lived in the house from childhood until her death in 1967, and the rooms preserve personal belongings, manuscripts, books, photographs, furniture, and artworks from her life and career.
The house was built in 1858 and purchased by Cazimir’s family in 1898, when she was four years old. Born Alexandrina Gavrilescu in Neamț County, she grew up and studied in Iași, where she began publishing poetry in Viața românească in 1912. Garabet Ibrăileanu and Mihail Sadoveanu gave her the literary name Otilia Cazimir, which she continued to use throughout a long career as a poet and writer.
Cazimir became especially well known for her poetry and prose for children, although her work also included lyrical poetry, short prose, journalism, and translations from French and Russian. Books such as Lumini și umbre, Fluturi de noapte, and Cântec de comoară established her reputation, and her writing received several major literary awards, including recognition from the Romanian Academy.
The house remained her home throughout her adult life and was also where she worked and received friends and fellow writers. After her death, it was restored and opened as a museum in 1972. The exhibition occupies two rooms and a hallway, with around 300 objects including manuscripts, autographed books, original photographs, Moldavian rugs, furniture, icons, and personal possessions.
Paintings by Iași artists include portraits of Cazimir and views of the Bucșinescu neighborhood, while her desk, books, photographs, and household objects bring the domestic setting of the house into the museum story. The property also retains the garden that formed part of her home for much of her life.
The museum is part of the network of museums administered by the National Museum of Romanian Literature Iași, headquartered in the House of Museums.
