Dumitru Dămăceanu | |
|---|---|
 General Dumitru Dămăceanu, 1945 | |
| Born | (1896-07-17)July 17, 1896 |
| Died | September 27, 1978(1978-09-27) (aged 82) |
| Allegiance | Romanian Army |
| Branch | Infantry |
| Rank | Major general |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of Michael the Brave Order of the Star of Romania |
| Alma mater | Infantry Officer School in Sibiu Military Academy of Turin |
| Spouse | Georgeta Stroescu |
Dumitru Dămăceanu (17 July 1896 – 27 September 1978) was aRomanian army officer inWorld War II, later promoted tobrigadier-general, who played a predominant role in theroyal coup of August 23, 1944.[1]
Dămăceanu was born in the village ofCosmești, inGalați County,Romania. He attended theCostache Negruzzi Boarding High School ofIași, and then the Military School for Cavalry Officers inTârgoviște, graduating in 1916 with the rank of second lieutenant. He then fought in theRomanian campaign ofWorld War I with the 6th RegimentRoșiori. After the war, he pursued his military education atInfantry Officer School inSibiu (1923) and theMilitary Academy ofTurin (1929).
In between the world wars, he wasmilitary attaché inRome, Italy, director at the Voievodul Mihai School, andadjutant toKingCarol II.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1938 and colonel in 1940.
From 1941 to 1942 he was commanding officer of the 10th Roșiori Cavalry Regiment, fighting on theEastern Front.[3] From 1942 to 1944 he was Chief of Staff of the Capital Military Command. He was awarded theOrder of Michael the Brave, 3rd class in October 1941[4] and theOrder of the Star of Romania, Officer class, in July 1942.
Colonel Dămăceanu participated in theAugust 23, 1944 coup d'état led by KingMichael I against the government ofMarshalIon Antonescu. He organized and coordinated the military actions and resistance in Bucharest. On August 29, he was promoted to brigadier general. By the end of August 1944, he travelled toMoscow with a Romanian delegation; they were received bySoviet Foreign MinisterVyacheslav Molotov on August 30 or 31.[5] On September 12, 1944, General Dămăceanu was one of theplenipotentiary signatories of the Armistice Agreement between Romania and theSoviet Union (the other signatories wereLucrețiu Pătrășcanu,Ghiță Popp [ro], andBarbu Știrbey on the Romanian side, andRodion Malinovsky on the Soviet side).
In 1946, he was a member of theGheorghe Tătărescu-led Romanian delegation to theParis World War II Peace Conference. The Peace Treaty with Romania was signed inParis on February 10, 1947, in the Salon de l'Horloge of theMinistère des Affaires Étrangères. On the Romanian side, the four signatories wereGheorghe Tătărescu (Council[dubious –discuss] Vice-President),Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (Minister of Justice),Ștefan Voitec (Minister of National Education), and Dămăceanu (Under-Secretary – Ministry of War). Other signatories includedJames F. Byrnes (US Secretary of State, for theUnited States), Vyacheslav Molotov (Foreign Affairs Minister, for the Soviet Union), andErnest Bevin (Foreign Affairs Secretary, for theUnited Kingdom).[6]
In August 1946 he advanced in rank tomajor general. Later on,[dubious –discuss] Dămăceanu was promoted tocolonel general.[1]
From August 23, 1944, to December 30, 1947, he was Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Interior, Council of Ministers, Ministry of War-Land Forces.
AfterKing Michael's forced abdication on December 30, 1947 and the complete Communist takeover, Dămăceanu was removed from the army. During the early 1950s he was degraded, arrested, tried and sentenced to serve time in prison.
After being released, during the 1960s, he was rehabilitated, receiving back his military rank – as a reserve officer. In 1974 he was promoted from the rank of colonel general to that of army general by presidential decree.[7][1] Thegymnasium inCosmești now bears his name,[8] as does a street in his native town.
In 1932 he married Georgeta Stroescu (born October 1912, died March 1996), and they had a daughter, Gabriela Romana Dămăceanu, born in May 1938 in Rome, Italy, while he was amilitary attaché.