Radu R. Rosetti | |
|---|---|
 Radu R. Rosetti | |
| Born | (1877-03-20)March 20, 1877 Căiuți,Bacău County,Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | June 2, 1949(1949-06-02) (aged 72) Văcărești Prison,Romanian People's Republic |
| Buried | Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest |
| Allegiance | Romanian Army |
| Service | Infantry |
| Years of service | 1899–1924 |
| Rank | Brigadier general |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class Order of the Crown (Romania), Grand Cross class |
| Alma mater | School of Bridges and Roads Higher War School |
| Spouse(s) | Ioana Știrbey |
| Relations | Radu Rosetti (father) Emma Bogdan (mother) |
| Other work | Director of theRomanian Academy Library (1931–1940) |
| Minister of National Education, Religious Affairs and the Arts | |
| In office 27 January 1941 – 11 November 1941 | |
| Prime Minister | Ion Antonescu |
| Preceded by | Traian Brăileanu |
| Succeeded by | Ion Antonescu |
Radu R. Rosetti (April 1 [O.S. March 20] 1877 – June 2, 1949) was aRomanianbrigadier general,military historian,librarian, and a titular member of theRomanian Academy.
Born inCăiuți,Bacău County, he was part of the oldboyarRosetti family.[1] His father,Radu Rosetti, was a writer;[2] he and his wife, Emma Bogdan, had four children: Radu, Henri, Eugeniu, and Magdalena. Radu attended primary school in his native village; in 1888 the family moved toTârgu Ocna, and then toBrăila, where the father was namedprefect ofBrăila County.In late 1892, the Rosetti family moves yet again, after the father is named prefect ofBacău County.[3]
Rosetti pursued his studies at theCostache Negruzzi National College inIași, and then moved toBucharest, where he took classes at theSchool of Bridges and Roads from 1895 to 1897. He then switched to a military career, graduating from the Military School for Artillery and Engineering in 1899, and from theHigher War School in 1906.[3]
On April 26, 1907, he married Ioana Știrbey, the daughter ofAlexandru B. Știrbei and the sister ofElisa Brătianu andBarbu Știrbey. Two years later he commissioned architectNicolae Ghica-Budești to build a house for them on Mihail Moxa Street, on a lot that came with his wife's dowry. The Rosetti couple had four children: Ileana, Radu, Ioana and Elisabeta. His wife died in 1914, aged only 29, at the birth of the fourth child.[4]
In August 1916, at the start of theRomanian Campaign ofWorld War I, Rosetti was a major in theRomanian Army, serving as chief of the operations bureau for the general staff[1] at the General Military Headquarters inPeriș.[5] In this position, he objected to the numerous promotions made two days before thefall of Bucharest to theCentral Powers, ostensibly to raise officer morale. He believed promotions for their own sake cheapened the meaning of rank and eroded respect for the hierarchy. Although he too was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 22 November,[5] he noted in his diary that he was not at all pleased with the honor.[6]
In January 1917 Rosetti was put in command of the 55th/67th Infantry Regiment, with troops fromPiatra Neamț andBacău, and garrisoned atVorniceni, nearBotoșani. In April he fell ill withtyphus, and was moved to the Charity Hospital inIași, where he stayed until May. At the request of GeneralConstantin Prezan, Rosetti took command on 4 June of the 4th/72nd Infantry Regiment, composed of units fromPloiești andMizil. With this regiment he fought fiercely at theBattle of Mărășești, under the command of GeneralEremia Grigorescu. On 19 August he was badly wounded by machine gun fire at Răzoare. He was then transported to the French Hospital of Notre Dame de Sion in Iași, where he was treated by Dr. E. Sorrel, and was visited byIon I. C. Brătianu,Barbu Știrbei, and the Royal Family.[5] For his bravery on the battlefield, Rosetti was awarded on 9 October theOrder of Michael the Brave, third class.[1]
After the war, he served as military attaché inLondon, from 1 July 1919 to 1 October 1920.[7]: 2 Subsequently, he was named commander of a brigade and head of training courses for high-level officers. In 1924, he was advanced to the rank of brigadier general.[1] Continuing to deplore the large number of promotions made in the triumphant mood that followed the creation ofGreater Romania, Rosetti soon resigned from the army.[6] He authored books on military history and theory,[1] some of them works of pioneering research.[6] He headed theNational Military Museum, an institution he had said from 1914 should be established. Elected a corresponding member of theRomanian Academy in 1927,[1] he advanced to titular status in 1934[8] before beingstripped of membership in 1948 by the newcommunist regime.[1] He headed theRomanian Academy Library between 1931 and 1940, assuming the role at the suggestion of his retiring predecessorIoan Bianu.[1] As director, he oversaw construction of a new headquarters, completed in 1938.[9]
In January 1941, immediately after theLegionnaires' rebellion was crushed,ConducătorIon Antonescu asked Rosetti to join anew government asEducation Minister. A longtime opponent of totalitarianism, he reluctantly accepted, but resigned in November after ten months in office. He invoked health reasons, but the real cause of his departure was aggravation at the tension that had arisen between him and part of the ministerial staff, who found his inflexibility and integrity an inconvenience to their various arrangements.[9][6] While in office in March 1941, he explained the motivation behind a decree banningRomanian Jews from converting away from their faith: "thwarting any Jewish attempt to hide their ethnic origin, which among the Jews is confused with their Mosaic religion; blocking Jewish infiltration into the Romanian national community; protecting the ethnic character of the Romanian people from the admixture of Jewish blood".[10] On 7 November 1941 he was awarded theOrder of the Crown, Grand Cross class.[11]
Rosetti subsequently returned as library director, where he continued researching military history and presented his findings in speeches before the academy or in published articles.[9] Due to his participation in the Antonescu government, he was arrested in August 1948 upon orders from theBucharest People's Tribunal.[12] Under the principle ofcollective responsibility, he was sentenced by the tribunal to two years' imprisonment in January 1949.[13] Rosetti was sent toJilava Prison, where he was severely beaten.[14] He died that June atVăcărești Prison.[12] He is buried atBellu Cemetery in Bucharest.[15]
On October 26, 1998, theHigh Court of Cassation and Justice rejected the request to extend the annulment appeal, made by the Chief Prosecutor, Sorin Moisescu, in favor of Rosetti and several other member of the Antonescu cabinet who had been sentenced to between two and ten years of hard prison under the charges of war crimes, subordinating the national economy to fascism, and high treason.[16]
InOnești, a street is namedGeneral Radu R. Rosetti after him. A school inBrusturoasa also bears his name.[3]
In 2017,Poșta Română issued a 4.50 lei stamp in his honor, part of the "Eternal Glory to the First World War Heroes" series, which also includes GeneralsIon Dragalina andDavid Praporgescu.[17]
