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Dem I. Dobrescu

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Dem I. Dobrescu

Dem I. Dobrescu(usual rendition ofDemetru Ion Dobrescu;1869 – 1948) was aRomanianleft-wingpolitician who served asMayorofBucharestbetween February 1929 and January 1934.

Biography

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Early life

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Born inJilavato a Transylvanian family,[1]he grew up inVăcăreștiin the outskirts of Bucharest.[2]He studied at the Matei Basarab High School and then he studied law at theUniversity of Bucharest,after which he moved to France, where he became aDoctor of Lawafter defending his thesisL'évolution de L'Idée de Droitin 1894.[2]After returning to Romania, he worked as a judge at theIașiTribunal and then a prosecutor inIlfov County[2]Dobrescu then joined the Bucharestbarand, after World War I, became its dean and later, the president of Lawyers' Union.[2]

AlongsideN. D. Coceaand others, he also defendedCommunist Partymembers during the 1922Dealul Spirii Trial.[3]In 1923, Dobrescu was part of the defense forConstantin Titel Petrescu,leader of theFederation of Romanian Socialist Parties,during a trial for alleged insults addressed to theRomanian Army;Petrescu was eventuallyacquitted.[4]Earlier in the year, Dobrescu had joined Petrescu'sLiga Drepturilor Omului(League forHuman Rights), which voiced protests against measures taken by theNational Liberalcabinet ofIon I. C. Brătianu;the League also includedConstantin Rădulescu-Motru,Constantin Mille,Victor Eftimiu,Nicolae L. Lupu,Constantin Costa-Foru,Grigore Iunian,Radu D. Rosetti,andVirgil Madgearu.[4]

Mayor of Bucharest

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Dobrescu was a member of the Communal Council of the Sector III ( "Blue" ) and, following 1926 local elections, he became the mayor of the sector as a candidate for theNational Peasants' Party(PNȚ).[5]Following the formation of a new PNȚ government, an internal struggle began in Bucharest over the membership and mayors of the sectors and of Bucharest.[5]For the mayor's office, the main candidates were Dobrescu andGheorghe Gheorghian.[5]

After two months of struggles, on February 5, 1929, a royal decree was published, by which the councils were dissolved and, in their place, Bucharest was administered by an interim commission led by Dobrescu.[5]

After winning, he declared the purpose of the office to be "not just administrative in character, but also social",[6]claiming that "we worked 50 years for the center [of the city], we should work 5 years for the outskirts".[7]Consequently, he created a series of non-partisancomitete cetățenești( "citizen committees" ), which were to oversee the application of norms in areas such as health, building maintenance, street commerce, and public safety.[8]In the context of theGreat Depression,he took measures to ensure that the underprivileged were regularly fed through public expense.[8]

He also soon began a series of majorpublic works:pavingmost streets (with measures take to replace the many types of pavement in use with a single material);[9]radical measures inelectrificationand the expansion of thewater supply network;[8]authorising the first buildings reflecting amoderniststyle;[9]widening and straighteningCalea Victoriei,as well as other major routes (with the reshaping of squares such asPiața Universității);[8]sanitizingand embanking theBăneasa Lake,as well as other lakes and ponds in northern Bucharest.[8]

Because of the large number ofpublic worksexecuted, he was nicknamed "thepickaxemayor ".[10]In a speech, he said he wanted "to profit from the widespread unemployment" to carry out large public works, "to get rid ofdirt roadsand to bring civilization to the outskirts and suburban areas "of Bucharest.[11]

Dobrescu also banned the then-widespread streetpeddling,making it mandatory that all sales transactions had to be made indoors.[11]

In July 1931, following a conflict with theMinistry of Internal Affairs,he was suspended from office. However, the government soon reversed its decision following strong public reactions.[7]

Although widely popular, Dobrescu's measures contributed, according to the newspaperDimineața,to creating "unease — inside his party — unease on the outside".[9]He eventually came into conflict with theIon G. DucaNational Liberal government and was removed from office 13 November 1933; the move caused a scandal, and Dobrescu was reinstated as mayor on 26 November, only to be deposed by the newGheorghe Tătărescucabinet (which had taken over following Duca's assassination by thefascistIron Guard) on 18 January 1934.[12]


Citizen Committees

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Dobrescu's leftist convictions eventually brought him into conflict with the PNȚ: he left in December 1935 to establish his own political movement, which took the name of the popular institution he had helped create — theCitizen Committees.[13]It remained a minoranti-fascistparty, and disappeared in 1938, whenKingCarol IIreplaced all political forces with hisNational Renaissance Front.

Legacy

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His modernization of Bucharest received much praise. NovelistLiviu Rebreanucalled him "the best mayor that the capital ever had", whileN. D. Coceasaid that "in 4 years, he did what other didn't do in 40 [years]".[14]Nicolae Iorgasaid that "wherever you look in Bucharest: widened streets, open squares, open perspectives, creative westernisation, the name of Dimitrie Dobrescu comes to your lips".[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Dache, p.201
  2. ^abcdDache, p.202
  3. ^Cioroianu, p.29
  4. ^abConstantin Titel Petrescu
  5. ^abcdDache, p.203
  6. ^Dobrescu, in Zănescuet al.,p.82
  7. ^abDache, p.204
  8. ^abcdeDumbravă; Zănescuet al.,p.82
  9. ^abcDumbravă
  10. ^Dache, p.207
  11. ^abDache, p.209
  12. ^Zănescuet al.,p.83
  13. ^Niculaeet al.,p.15
  14. ^abDache, p.212

References

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  • Adrian Cioroianu,Pe umerii lui Marx. O introducere în istoria comunismului românesc( "On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism" ),Editura Curtea Veche,Bucharest, 2005
  • Dinu Dumbravă, "Patru ani de mari realizări în Capitală" ( "Four Years of Major Achievements in the Capital" ), inDimineaţa,November 13, 1933, p. 19-20
  • Vasile Niculae, Ion Ilincioiu, Stelian Neagoe,Doctrina ţărănistă în România. Antologie de texte( "Peasant Doctrine in Romania. Collected Texts" ), Editura Noua Alternativă, Social Theory Institute of theRomanian Academy,Bucharest, 1994
  • Ionel Zănescu, Camelia Ene, "Doi primari interbelici în slujba cetăţeanului" ( "Two Interwar Mayors in Service to the Citizen" ), inMagazin Istoric,March 2003
  • (in Romanian)Constantin Titel Petrescuat social-democrati.ro
  • Petre Dache, "Dem I. Dobrescu primar al Bucureștilor", inBucurești,VII, 1971, Muzeul de Istorie a municipiului București, pp. 201–213
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