| Constantin Karadja | |
|---|---|
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| Prince | |
| Born | 24 November 1889 The Hague,Netherlands |
| Died | 28 December 1950 (aged 61) Bucharest,Romania |
| Spouse | Marcela Elena Caradja |
| House | Karatzas (Caradja) |
| Father | Jean Karadja Pasha |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Signature |  |
PrinceConstantin Jean Lars Anthony Démétrius Karadja[1] (24 November 1889 – 28 December 1950) was aGreek-Romanian diplomat, barrister-at-law, bibliographer,bibliophile and honorary member (1946) of theRomanian Academy. He was a member of theCaradja aristocratic family.
Constantin was the son of PrinceJean Karadja Pasha (1835–1894) andMary Smith Karadja (1868–1943). In 1916 Constantin married a distant relative (her father was second cousin to Constantin), Princess Marcela Elena Caradja (1896–1971) of Romania. They had two children:
Barrister at law in England with studies atFramlingham College[2] and theInner Temple,[3] he spoke English, Swedish, Romanian, German, French, Danish and Norwegian, as well as Latin and Greek. Being a European by education, Constantin Karadja married and established himself in Romania (1916). He was naturalised and joined the diplomatic service in 1920, serving Romania in missions as consul inBudapest (1921–1922), consul general inStockholm (1928–1930) andBerlin (1932–1941).
With additional solid competences in economics, he also worked as a counsel in theMinistry of Finances, and participated 1927 as chief of the Romanian delegation to theInternational Economic Conference in Geneva. He composed a diplomatic and consular manual.
Being a passionate bibliophile and collector, Constantin Karadja founded one of the most important collections of old and rare books in South-East Europe, which nowadays can be found partially in theNational Library and the Romanian Academy in Bucharest.[4] Being accredited as consul general in Berlin and in parallel to his diplomatic activities, he continued his research concerningincunabula, realising in this period the "List of incunabulum on the Romanian territory".[5][6]
He published important works regarding the ancient history of Romania. Using unknown sources discovered by his own research activities, he released in 1934 his famous work entitled "The oldest sources published on Romanian history".[7] In 1940 he also presented to the Romanian Academy the first mentions ofDacia and the Romanians discovered in two incunabula from 1454 and 1472. More than half of the numerous scientific articles of Constantin Karadja were published in the three journals ofNicolae Iorga.[4][5] As a result of his activity as bibliographer and researcher, he was admitted as honorary member of theRomanian Academy on 3 June 1946. His letter of recommendation was signed by eighteen notable academicians, includingIon Nistor,Alexandru Lapedatu,Dimitrie Pompeiu,Gheorghe Spacu,Emil Racoviţă,Iorgu Iordan,Constantin Ion Parhon,Nicolae Bănescu,Constantin Rădulescu-Motru,Ştefan Ciobanu,Radu R. Rosetti, andSilviu Dragomir [ro].[8] He was removed from the Academy by thecommunist regime two years later, in 1948. After theRomanian Revolution of 1989, he was re-established in 1990.[9]
Influenced by his humanistic and juridical education, Constantin Karadja constantly followed the principles ofinternational law respecting human rights. He did not cede in front of political pressures, "doctrines" en vogue or potential "opportunities", but engaged himself with perseverance in the protection of the rights of Romanian citizens living abroad, regardless of ethnicity or religion. As the Romanian consul general in Berlin (1932–1941) and the director of the consular department of theRomanian Foreign Ministry (15 June 1941 – 17 October 1944), "in both functions, during one and a half decades, Karadja developed an intense activity to saveRomanian Jews surprised by the war in the kingdom of death". "Tens of thousands owe their lives to his exceptional persistency, abnegation, determination and amplitude marking his long-term engagement in favour of the Romanian Jews stranded under theNazi regime."[10]Yosef Govrin, former Israeli ambassador, also writes that it "required extraordinary courage to act as he did through diplomatic means" as he was putting his career in consequent jeopardy.[11] Shortly after his dismissal on 17 October 1944, he was re-appointed by the new foreign minister,Constantin Vișoianu. On 1 September 1947 he was dismissed again from the ministry, this time permanently. This was one of the last measures taken by ministerGheorghe Tătărescu, who one month later, was himself forced to leave his post toAna Pauker.[12] Subsequently, the payment of Karadja's pension was refused. In an atmosphere of incertitude and menace, he died on 28 December 1950.
| Righteous Among the Nations |
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On 15 September 2005, Constantin Karadja received from theYad Vashem institute inJerusalem posthumously the title "Righteous Among the Nations"[13] during a ceremony in the Israeli embassy in Berlin and in presence of the Romanian ambassador. His diplomatic efforts have been presented in detail on the basis of numerous letters, memos, reports etc. which he sent to his superiors includingMihai Antonescu. These documents can be found in the archive of the Romanian foreign ministry and theHolocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. They are the means by which Karadja saved over 51,000 persons from deportation and extermination—Jews (men, women and children) from parts of Europe dominated by the Nazis, especially from Germany, France andHungary, but also fromGreece and Italy (November 1943 – July 1944).[14][15][16][17][18]
Media related toConstantin Karadja at Wikimedia Commons
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