Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul

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Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul
Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Granicerul.jpg
Nickname(s)Grănicerul
Born(1869-12-25)December 25, 1869
Paris, France
DiedOctober 9, 1937(1937-10-09) (aged 67)
Bucharest, Romania
Allegiance Romania
 Spain
BranchRomanian Armed Forces
Years of service1883 — 1918
RankGeneral
Commands held1st Border Guard Regiment
Border Guard Brigade
Battles/warsSecond Balkan War
World War I Spanish Civil War
AwardsOrder of Michael the Brave, 3rd Class (October 16, 1916)[1]

Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul was a Romanian landowner, general and right-leaning politician who was a member of the Iron Guard, and a member of the Legionary Senate.

Biography[]

Gheorghe Cantacuzino was born in Paris as the son of engineer , a descendant of Prince Serban Cantacuzino. He studied at the Romanian high school in Fontenay-aux-Roses until 1881 and at the "Saint George" High School in France. In 1883 he entered the Military School in Craiova, and starting with 1890 at the Infantry School in Bucharest.[2]

Military career[]

In 1892, Cantacuzino was a lieutenant of hunters. Later in 1910 he was promoted to the rank of major and appointed chief of staff of the Minister of War, Nicolae Filipescu. He participated in the Second Balkan War and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1914.

At the beginning of the First World War he was commander of the 1st Regiment of Border Guards from Predeal, with which he occupied the city of Brasov, one of the first victories since the beginning of the war. During the retreat of the Romanian troops in front of the offensive of the Central Powers soldiers, he participated in the battles on the Prahova Valley, from the Rucăr-Bran pass and then on the front from the Argeș Mountains to Olt . Wounded by a shell, Cantacuzino returned to command the regiment after recovery. Cantacuzino was promoted to the rank of colonel and later to the rank of general. He was decorated with the "Mihai Viteazul" Order , class III, for the way he led the Border Guard Brigade in the 1916 campaign. " For the bravery and worth shown on the battlefield in the Carpathians." from the High Decree no. 2990 of October 1, 1916, page 55. [1]

In 1917 he commanded the Border Guard Brigade from Târgu Ocna and participated, under the command of General Averescu , in the battles on the , ensuring the stabilization of the front in this region. After the armistice, the border guard brigade was moved to Iasi. In December 1918, after the signing of the , he resigned from the army considering that the treaty was incompatible with the honor of soldier. He was transferred to the reserve with the rank of general. In 1915 he sold one of his estates in Vâlcea to buy 15 modern machine guns with which he endowed the regiment.[3]

French General Berthelot, the head of the during the First World War, characterized Gheorghe Cantacuzino as follows: "He is a man whom you must imprison in time of peace and release in time of war."[4]

Instead, the politician Constantin Argetoianu characterized him caustically: "Poor Zizi was a joke all his life and so he will die, but not on the front but in his bed."[5]

Civil career[]

Gheorghe Cantacuzino was appointed administrator of civil hospitals and was elected deputy of Vâlcea from the People's Party led by Alexandru Averescu in 1920 and, later, was deputy of Tulcea for the Conservative-Progressive Party for both 1922 and 1926. [6]

On December 10, 1934, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu appointed him president of the nationalist party Totul pentru Țară, the successor of the Iron Guard, after outlawing the latter, the de facto leader being Codreanu himself.[7]

Gheorghe Cantacuzino led the group of Legionnaires, in 1936 and went to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the Nationalist faction.[8] After a short stay in Spain, he returned to Romania in the same year, leaving only the rest of the group on the front.

Gheorghe Cantacuzino was married to Elena Kalinderu and was the owner of the building in Imprimeriei Street, no. 3 (later Gutenberg Street). In 1937 he ceded a portion of the land for the construction of the Totul pentru Țară party headquarters, a building built by the voluntary work of the legionaries and known as the "Green House".

His house, located in a protected area, was demolished in May 2010 , despite the request to classify the building as a historical monument, due to the dysfunctions between the , the , and the .[6] [9]

Gheorghe Cantacuzino was Gheorghe Manu's uncle.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Ministry of War, Yearbook of the officers and flags of the Romanian Army who were awarded the order "Mihai Viteazul" , Graphic Workshops "Socec & Co", Bucharest, 1930
  2. ^ Stan Stoica, Vasile Mărculeț, Stănel Ion, Alexandru V. Ștefănescu, Valentin Vasile, Valentina Bilcea, George Marcu, Constanța Pirotici: Biographical Dictionary of the History of Romania , chap. Cantacuzino-Grănicerul Gheorghe (Zizi) , pp. 100-111, Meronia Publishing House, Bucharest, 2008, ISBN 978-973-7839-39-8.
  3. ^ Cezar Ardeleanu, Gheorghe Buzatu, The events of January 1941 in the German and Romanian archives . Introductory study by Dr. Gheorghe Buzatu, Series "Romanians in universal history", Majadahonda Publishing House, 1998.
  4. ^ Sandache, Cristian: Istorie și biografie: Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Editura Mica Valahie, ISBN 978-973-7858-92-4, p. 226.
  5. ^ Argetoianu, Constantin: Însemnări zilnice - vol. VII, Editura Machiavelli, București, 2003, ISBN 973-96599-9-20, p. 333.
  6. ^ a b Page The former headquarters of the legionary movement, demolished without approval on the Historia.ro website. Accessed on November 18, 2012.
  7. ^ Predescu, Lucian: Enciclopedia Cugetarea, Enciclopedia României - Material românesc. Oameni și înfăptuiri, p. 959, Editura Cugetarea – Georgescu Delafras, București, 1940.
  8. ^ Cirstea, Marusia, Damean, Sorin Liviu și Liciu, Dori (coordonatori): Istorie și societate, vol I, Editura Mica Valahie, ISBN 978-973-7858-70-2, p. 549.
  9. ^ Raluca Curteanu, stared behind bars for three years because he demolished a protected building ", Adevărul , October 12, 2011.
  10. ^ Siviu B. Moldovan, "Introductory Study" in "Testis Dacicus" (George Manu), = gbs_ge_summary_r & cad = 0 # v = onepage & q & f = false Behind the Iron Curtain: Romania under Russian Occupation , Volume 280 of the series "Romanians in Universal History", Mica Valahie Publishing House, 2010, ISBN 978-973-7858-56-6, pp. 17.
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