Nicolae Titulescu(Romanian pronunciation:[nikoˈla.etituˈlesku];4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was aRomanianpolitician and diplomat, at various times ambassador,finance minister,andforeign minister,and for two terms president of the General Assembly of theLeague of Nations(1930–32).
Nicolae Titulescu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania | |
| In office 10 October 1934 – 28 August 1936 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Preceded by | Gheorghe Tătărescu |
| Succeeded by | Victor Antonescu |
| In office 20 October 1932 – 1 October 1934 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Preceded by | Alexandru Vaida-Voevod |
| Succeeded by | Gheorghe Tătărescu |
| In office 24 November 1927 – 9 November 1928 | |
| Monarch | Michael I |
| Preceded by | Ion I. C. Brătianu |
| Succeeded by | Gheorghe Mironescu |
| President of the Assembly of the League of Nations | |
| In office 1930–1932 | |
| Preceded by | José Gustavo Guerrero |
| Succeeded by | Paul Hymans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 March 1882 Craiova,Romania |
| Died | 17 March 1941(aged 59) Cannes,Vichy France |
| Spouse | Catherine Titulescu |
Early years
editNicolae Titulescu was born on 4 March 1882 inCraiova,the son of a solicitor. He grew up at his father's estate inTitulești,a commune in Romania that was later named after him. Upon graduating with honours in 1900 from theCarol I High Schoolin Craiova, Titulescu studied law inParis,obtaining his doctorate with the thesisEssai sur une théorie des droits éventuels.In 1905, Titulescu returned to Romania as a professor of law at theUniversity of Iași,and in 1907 he moved toBucharest.
Political career
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Following the Romanian elections of 1912, Titulescu became a parliamentarian with theConservative-Democratic Partyled byTake Ionescu,and five years later he became a member of the government ofIon I. C. Brătianuas Minister of Finance.
In the summer of 1918, together with other prominent Romanians (Take Ionescu,Octavian Goga,Traian Vuia,Constantin Mille), Titulescu formed, inParis,the National Romanian Committee, with the purpose of promoting in international public opinion the right of the Romanian people to national unity, the committee being officially recognised as the plenipotentiaryde factoorgan of the Romanian nation.
After the war, Titulescu was finance minister in thesecond Averescu governmentin 1920-21. He was then appointedRomanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom,a position he held on-and-off until 1936.
Beginning in 1921, Titulescu functioned as the permanent representative of Romania to theLeague of NationsinGeneva.He was chosen twice (in 1930 and 1931) to be thepresidentof the General Assembly of that organization. In this capacity, he fought for the preservation of stable borders through the maintenance of peace, for good relations between both large and small neighboring states, for the respect of the sovereignty and equality of all nations in the international community, for collective security, and the prevention of aggression.[1]
In June 1936, Titulescu reacted to the buffoonery exhibited by the Italian journalists whenEmperorHaile Selassie Ispoke to the League afterEthiopia had been invaded and occupied by Fascist Italy.He jumped to his feet and shouted: "To the door with the savages!" ( "A la porte les sauvages!").[2]Patrick Leigh Fermordescribed him as "tall andmandarin-like, but with splendid histrionic gestures, and obviously a comic genius of the first order ".[3]
From 1927 to 1928, Titulescu was the minister of foreign affairs, a post he held again from 1932-36. After an initial period of skepticism, he concluded that Romania needed an alliance with theSoviet Union,[4]and he conducted many negotiations with Commissar for Foreign AffairsMaxim Litvinov.These failed due to lack of support from kingCarol IIand other Romanian political leaders.[5]
In 1935, Titulescu was elected a titular member of theRomanian Academy.[6]
Exile and death
editIn August 1936,KingCarol IIremoved Titulescu from all official positions, asking him to leave the country. Settling first inSwitzerland,he later moved toFrance.In exile, he continued in conferences and newspaper articles to propagate the idea of the preservation of peace, as he perceived the danger of the approaching war. He returned to Romania in November 1937, partly by the efforts ofIuliu Maniu.
In 1937, Titulescu again left Romania and took refuge in France. AtCannes,he denounced the Romanian fascist regime. On 17 March 1941, Titulescu died in Cannes, France following a long illness. In his will, he asked to be buried in Romania.
In 1989, after the fall ofcommunist Romaniaduring theRomanian Revolution,the honouring of Titulescu's request became possible. On 14 March 1992, his remains were reburied in the Sfânta Ecaterina cemetery inȘcheii Brașovului,next toSt. Nicholas Church,Brașovafter a difficult legal procedure organized by Jean-Paul Carteron, a French attorney. He was awardedOrder of the White Eagleand other decorations.[7]
References
edit- ^Markham, Reuben (20 March 1941). "Tireless Titulescu". The Christian Science Monitor.
- ^Barker, A. J.,The Rape of Ethiopia 1936,p. 133
- ^Fermor, Patrick Leigh(2013).The Broken Road.p. 189.
- ^Lungu, Dov B. (1989)Romania and the Great Powers, 1933-1940,Duke University Press, p. 235 "...Titulescu recommended, as the lesser of two great evils, collaboration with the Soviet Union in the framework of a wider alliance whose goal was to deter Germany."
- ^Lungu, Dov B.op. cit,chap. 5 "The Russian Connection and Its Enemies: The Causes of Titulescu's Fall"
- ^(in Romanian)Membrii Academiei Române din 1866 până în prezentat the Romanian Academy site
- ^Acović, Dragomir (2012).Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima.Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 614.
External links
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