Ion G. Duca

For other people with similar names, seeIon Gheorghe.

For the settlements briefly named in his memory, seeCristuru Secuiesc,General Toshevo,andPecineaga.

Ion Gheorghe Duca
President of the Council of Ministers
In office 14 November 1933 – 29 December 1933
Monarch	Carol II
Preceded by	Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Succeeded by	Constantin Angelescu
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania
In office 19 January 1922 – 29 March 1926
Prime Minister	Ion I. C. Brătianu
Preceded by	Gheorghe Derussi
Succeeded by	Ion Mitilineu
Personal details
Born	(1879-12-20)20 December 1879 Bucharest,Romania
Died	29 December 1933(1933-12-29)(aged 54) Sinaia train station,Prahova County,Kingdom of Romania
Manner of death	Assassination
Resting place	Horezu
Political party	National Liberal Party
Alma mater	University of Paris

Ion Gheorghe Duca(Romanian pronunciation:[iˈonˈduka];20 December 1879 – 29 December 1933) wasRomanianpolitician and thePrime Minister of Romaniafrom 14 November to 29 December 1933, when he was assassinated for his efforts to suppress the fascistIron Guardmovement.

Early life

Ion Gheorghe Duca was born inBuchareston 20 December 1879. He was initiated intoFreemasonrywhile he was studying inFrance.He completed his studies at theUniversity of Paris,earning a doctorate in law in 1902. As part of a group of professors, physicians, soldiers and other professions, he helped bringscoutingto Romania (see alsoCercetașii României).

Political career

Duca entered Romania'sChamber of Deputiesfor theNational Liberal Partyin 1907. He served in the cabinet from 1914, and was appointedMinister of Foreign Affairsin 1922. He was an avid supporter of theLittle Entente,formed between Romania,Yugoslavia,andCzechoslovakiato fend offHungarianirredentist claims(Hungary claimedTransylvaniaand theBanat,which Romania gained afterWorld War I) and prevent theHouse of Habsburgfrom returning to power in Central Europe.

Duca in 1925, as Foreign Minister

In November 1933,KingCarol IIasked Duca to head the government asprime ministerin preparation for theDecember elections.

In this capacity, Duca worked to keep in check the rising support for theIron Guard,also known as Legion of the Archangel Michael, afascistmovement led byCorneliu Zelea Codreanu,even outlawing theEverything For the Country Party,its political arm. What followed was a time of violence when police on orders from Duca sometimes attacked Iron Guard members(which led to the deaths of 18 of the members),and jailed thousands of them. Shortly after, many of the Iron Guard members were released from jail.

Death

See also:Iron Guard death squads

Memorial plaque at Sinaia train station

On 29 December 1933, just 45 days into his prime ministership, Duca was summoned toPeleș Castle,inSinaia,for consultations with the king. On the return trip, at night, Duca was shot to death on the platform of theSinaia train station.This was done in revenge for the actions taken by Duca against the Iron Guard,and because he had allowed for increased Jewish immigration while blocking that ofAromanianstoDobrudja.Duca's assassination was the first major political assassination in Romania since 1862.

Duca was assassinated by three Iron Guard members,that formed the NicadoriIron Guard death squad,comprising Nicolae Constantinescu, Ion Caranica, and Doru Belimace.All three were arrested straight away and sentenced to hard labour for life. They were all killed, as were many other Iron Guard leaders, on 30 November 1938 while being transported toJilava Prison.

Legacy

Duca wrote extensive memoirs about his experiences as a cabinet minister duringWorld War I.His son, George, edited Duca and George's memoirs while at theHoover InstitutionatStanford Universityin the 1970s and 1980s.

There are streets named after him in Bucharest,Constanța,Craiova,Eforie,Mediaș,andOtopeni,as well as a gymnasium inPetroșani.

External links

• Hoover article 1
• Hoover article 2
• Newspaper clippings about Ion G. Ducain the20th Century Press Archivesof theZBW