Marin Preda (Romanian pronunciation: [maˈrin ˈpreda]; 5 August 1922 – 16 May 1980) was a Romanian novelist, one of the best-known post-WWII Romanian writers.Preda was born in Teleorman county, in a village called Siliştea-Gumeşti, into a family of peasants. He first studied at school in his home village, then schools in Abrud and Cristur-Odorhei. He moved to Bucharest in 1940 and became a proofreader at Timpul ("Times") magazine.His first novella was called Calul ("The Horse").