Vasile Stoica

Vasile Stoica
Vasile Stoca

Vasile Stoica(Romanian pronunciation:[vaˈsileˈstojka],also known asBasil Stoica;1889–1959) was aRomanianpolitical writer, diplomat, and close assistant ofEuropeanstatesmenTomáš MasarykandIon I.C. Brătianu.

Early life and education

Stoica was born in a family that originated fromTransylvania(then in theHungarianhalf ofAustria-Hungary,but now inRomania); according to his birth certificate, Vasile Stoica was born inAvrigon January 1, 1889. He was the son of Maria and Gheorghe Stoica,Romaniansbelonging to theChristian Orthodoxfaith. He attended elementary school in Avrig.

His interest for the politics is proved by his status as one of the members of theRomanian National Party of Transylvania and Banat,from 1909.

From September the same year, Vasile Stoica followed the courses of Literature atBudapest University,until 1913; two semesters atUniversity of ParisFaculty of Letters. In October 1913, he became president of the cultural organization of the "Petru Maior"ethnic RomaniansundergraduatesinBudapest.

World War I

UponAustria-Hungary's declaration of waronSerbiathat led to the outbreak ofWorld War I,Vasile Stoica was a teacher. In August–September, Stoica worked as aredactor-answerableatRomânul,the leadingRomanian languagenewspaper in Austria-Hungary. In October 1914, he choose to leave the Empire to avoidconscription,and headed forBucharest,in still-neutral Romania.

He tried to work forRomanian Army,in the newAir Force,but he was rejected. He carried on his activity of publicist to the newspapersAdevărul,Universul,Flacăra,Naţionalul.Meanwhile, he abnegated his Austro-Hungarian citizenship for the Romanian one. At the Congress of Romanians refugees to Romania, in March 1915, Stoica stated that "the desire to be a part of agreat and free Romaniais not the result of the context".The introduction to the bookHabsburgii, ungurii şi românii( "TheHabsburgs,theHungariansand Romanians "), dated May 1, written by Vasile Stoica andIon Rusu Abrudeanu.The authors plead for Romanian intervention against Austria-Hungary. In August, Stoica lead the Congress of the undergraduates inGalaţi.He published another, more radical book,Suferinţele din Ardeal( "Sufferings in Transylvania" ), in Bucharest in the summer of 1916. The young author’s book is a "declaration of war"against Austria-Hungary. In June, anAustro-Hungarian Armycourt-martialinClujsentenced him to deathin absentia.

At the end of August 1916, the Romanian government, impressed by the early success of theBrusilov Offensive,declared war onGermanyand Austria-Hungary.KingFerdinand’sProclamationto the Army, drafted by Stoica along with the proclamation for the Romanian public opinion, read:

"You will fight alongside the great nations we are united with. Bloody battles are waiting you, but bravely enduring their hardness and with God’s help the victory will be ours".

He subsequently fought in the Romanian Army againstinvading German forcesinOltenia,and followed the Romanian troops in their retreat toMoldavia.In March 1917, Stoica (by then asecond lieutenant) was a member of a group of exiled Romanian Habsburg subjects who were sent as a delegation to theUnited Statesto campaign Romania's cause.The envoys also established close contacts with theCzechTomáš Masarykand thePolishIgnacy Jan Paderewski.

He was instrumental in the creation of theRomanian National League of Americain July, some months after America joined theEntente forces;among other things, theLeague,centered inYoungstown,Ohio,helped direct the war effort and participation of theRomanian-Americancommunity towards the US forces on theWestern Front.

Stephen P. Dugganwrote on December 10, 1920:

"He has been over every part of [the United States]. He has come in contact with university professors, financiers, industrialists, [and Romanian-Americans]. He has made a district success wherever he went, as much a social success as an official success. It will take a new man a long time to learn as much asCaptainStoica and to secure the confidence of Americans in the way he has. Because of my official position, I have come during the war period, in contact with the representatives of all the foreign nations, and no one of them has impressed more favourably than Captain Stoica".

Personal life

Vasile Stoica married Ines (Nessy) Longhi de Sobione. Born January 21, 1898 in Parma, Italy, she came to Romania in 1927. Their marriage ended in divorce sometime prior to 1940. Ines Longhi died on February 16, 1956 while married to her second husband, Carol Ardeleanu, (né Köhler) an ethnic German from Transylvania.

Postwar Imprisonment under Communist Rule

He was imprisoned from 1948 to 1954 and in 1957 was arrested again and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He died inJilava Prisonin 1959.

Further reading

Stoica, Vasile.The Roumanian Question: The Roumanians and their Lands.Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Printing Company (1919).

References

Sources

• Florin Mirghesiu - "Iaşi - Washington via Siberia, Coreea, Japonia şi Hawaii", inMagazin Istoric,no. 12, December 2004.
• Arhiva Operativa Dosar #28709,CNSASFile for Carol Ardeleanu
• http://www.dacoromania-alba.ro/nr58/ambasadorul_vasile_stoica.htm