Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu (also known as Guță Tătărescu, with a slightly antiquated pet form of his given name;Unknown – 28 March 1957) was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania (1934–1937; 1939–1940), three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs (interim in 1934 and 1938, appointed to the office in 1945-1947) and once as Minister of War (1934). Representing the "young liberals" faction inside the National Liberal Party (PNL), Tătărescu began his political career as a collaborator of Ion G. Duca, becoming noted for his anticommunism and, in time, for his conflicts with the PNL's leader Dinu Brătianu and the Foreign Minister Nicolae Titulescu. During his first time in office, he moved closer to King Carol II and led an ambivalent policy toward the fascist Iron Guard and ultimately becoming instrumental in establishing the authoritarian and corporatist regime around the National Renaissance Front. In 1940, he accepted the cession of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union and had to resign.
Gheorghe Tătărescu | |
|---|---|
| 36th Prime Minister of Romania | |
| In office 25 November 1939 – 4 July 1940 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Preceded by | Constantin Argetoianu |
| Succeeded by | Ion Gigurtu |
| In office 3 January 1934 – 28 December 1937 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Preceded by | Constantin Anghelescu |
| Succeeded by | Octavian Goga |
| Vice President of the Council of Ministers | |
| In office 6 March 1945 – 5 November 1947 | |
| Monarch | Michael I |
| Prime Minister | Petru Groza |
| Preceded by | Petru Groza |
| Succeeded by | Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej |
| Member of the Crown Council | |
| In office 30 March 1938 – 6 September 1940 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 6 March 1945 – 29 December 1947 | |
| Prime Minister | Petru Groza |
| Preceded by | Constantin Vișoianu |
| Succeeded by | Ana Pauker |
| In office 11 February 1938 – 29 March 1938 | |
| Prime Minister | Miron Cristea |
| Preceded by | Istrate Micescu |
| Succeeded by | Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen |
| In office 2 October 1934 – 9 October 1934 | |
| Preceded by | Nicolae Titulescu |
| Succeeded by | Nicolae Titulescu |
| Minister of Interior | |
| In office 25 November 1939 – 30 November 1939 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Nicolae Ottescu |
| Succeeded by | Mihail Ghelmegeanu |
| In office 23 February 1937 – 14 November 1937 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Dumitru Iuca |
| Succeeded by | Richard Franasovici |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 November 1886 Târgu Jiu, Romania |
| Died | 28 March 1957 (aged 70) Bucharest, Romania |
| Political party | National Liberal Party National Renaissance Front National Liberal Party-Tătărescu |
| Profession | Lawyer |
After the start of World War II, Gheorghe Tătărescu initiated a move to rally political forces in opposition to Ion Antonescu's dictatorship, and sought an alliance with the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). He was twice expelled from the PNL, in 1938 and 1944, creating instead his own group, the National Liberal Party-Tătărescu, and representing it inside the communist-endorsed Petru Groza cabinet. In 1946-1947, he was also the President of the Romanian Delegation to the Peace Conference in Paris. Then, relations between Tătărescu and the PCR began to sour, and he was replaced from the leadership of both his own party and the Foreign Ministry when his name was implicated in the Tămădău Affair. Following the Communist takeover, he was arrested and held as a political prisoner while being called to testify in the trial of Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu. He died soon after his release from prison.
Elected an honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1937, he was removed from his seat by the communist authorities in 1948. One of his brothers, Colonel Ștefan Tătărescu, was at some point the leader of a minor Nazi group, the National Socialist Party.