Nicolae Massim by the communist authorities because of their "bourgeois" origins. Nicolae Massim Nicolae Massim (1909–1981) was a Romanian theater director. A graduate of the School of Liberal Arts and Philosophy of the University of Cluj, Romania, and of the Institute of Dramatic Arts and Cinematography (IATC) of Bucharest, he made his directorial debut staging historical plays by the renowned historian Nicolae Iorga at the "Cultural League Theatre" of the People's University that Iorga founded in the town of Vălenii de Munte. At the National Theatre Bucharest, Nicolae Massim made his debut as assistant director to Ion Sahighian, and during long and
Christmas Day in the Workhouse very popular and such work made Sims a great success. He went on to write detailed exposés of the life of the poor for periodicals such as the "Weekly Dispatch", "The Pictorial World" and "The Daily News", which had been founded by Charles Dickens. Among the many parodies of Sims' ballad are "Christmas Day in the Cookhouse" (1930) by British comedian Billy Bennett, recited by a soldier in the 1969 film "Oh! What a Lovely War"; "'Twas Christmas Day in the Poorhouse" (2000) by Garrison Keillor; and "Christmas Day in Grey Gables", submitted by a listener to the BBC Radio