Constantin Nicolescu

Constantin D. Nicolescu (October 5, 1887 – 1972) was a Romanian career army officer.

Not to be confused with Constantin I. Nicolaescu.
Constantin Nicolescu

Born in Bucharest, he served as a second lieutenant during the Second Balkan War in 1913. During World War I, he was a captain in a cavalry regiment, and was decorated with the Order of Michael the Brave and the Legion of Honour. From 1925 to 1927, he served as military attaché in Paris. In 1929, with the rank of colonel, he began commanding the royal escort regiment. Made a general in 1939, he entered the Defense Ministry as general secretary.[1] In May 1940, he advanced to ministerial rank in the cabinet of Gheorghe Tătărăscu, holding office as undersecretary of state.[2] Then, from July 4 to September 4, he was Defense Minister in the cabinet of Ion Gigurtu,[3] and was elevated to the rank of division general. In 1942, during World War II, he became military commander of Bucharest and was placed in charge of an army corps.[1]

Nicolescu was among the generals who prepared the King Michael Coup, and from November 1944 until the abolition of the monarchy in December 1947 served as head of the royal household.[1][4] An adviser to King Michael and palace marshal, he presented daily reports to the king regarding the situation on the front, commenting upon the course of the war. After the end of the war, he continued to brief the king regarding discussions within the higher army council, which debated laws and other measure touching on the military. In May 1946, the same year he was sent into the reserves, he joined the leadership of Mișcărea Națională de Rezistență, an early group within the anti-communist resistance movement.[4] Removed from the army in January 1948 by the new communist regime, he was arrested at the end of March. Later that year, he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for "plotting an uprising".[1] His family was evicted from their home and persecuted. Part of his years in prison were spent at Jilava and Aiud. After being released, he was not granted a pension and had to support himself by working on commission at an agency of Loteria Română.[1]

Notes
  1. (in Romanian) Cicerone Ionițoiu, "Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestați, torturați, întemnițați, uciși. Dicționar N"
  2. Lya Benjamin, S. Stanciu, Evreii din România între anii 1940–1944: Problema evreiască în stenogramele Consiliului de Miniștri, p. 587. Bucharest: Editura Hasefer, 1993.
  3. Neagoe, p. 135
  4. Octavian Roske (ed.), Mecanisme represive în România 1945–1989: dicționar biografic, vol. III, p. 185. Bucharest: Institutul Național pentru Studiul Totalitarismului, 2004

References
  • Stelian Neagoe, Istoria guvernelor României. Bucharest: Editura Machiavelli, 1999. ISBN 978-973-9659-97-0
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