Nicolae Titulescu

Nicolae Titulescu (March 4, 1882, Craiova - March 17 1941, Cannes) well-known Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, and President of the League of Nations.

Born in Craiova the son of a solicitor, he passed through his childhood at his father's estate in Titulesti, Olt County. Upon graduating with honours in 1900 from the "Carol I" high-school in Craiova, he studied law in Paris, obtaining his doctorate with the thesis Essai sur une théorie des droits éventuels.

In 1905 he returned to Romania as a professor of law at the University of Iasi , and in 1907 he moved to Bucharest. Following the Romanian elections of 1912, he became a parliamentarian with the Conservative-Democrat Party led by Take Ionescu, and five years later he became a member of the government of Ion Bratianu as Minister of Finance.

In the summer of 1918, together with other high-ranking Romanians (Take Ionescu, Octavian Goga, Traian Vuia, Constantin Mille ) he formed in Paris the "National Romanian Committee", with the purpose of promoting in international public opinion the right of the Romanian people to national unity, the committee being officially recognised as the plenipotentiary (de facto) organ of the Romanian nation.

From 1927 to 1936, Nicolae Titulescu was at various times the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Beginning in 1921 he functioned as the permanent representative of Romania to the "League of Nations" in Geneva, being twice (in 1930 and 1931) President of that organisation. In this capacity he fought for the preservation of stable borders through the maintenance of peace, for good relations between both large and small neighbouring states, for the respect of the sovereignty and equality of all nations in the international community, for collective security, and the prevention of aggression.

In 1936, King Carol II removed Titulescu from all official functions, obligating him to leave the country. Settling first in Switzerland, he later moved to France. While in exile, Nicolae Titulescu continued through conferences and newspaper articles to propagate the idea of the preservation of peace, perceiving the danger of a war that was to come all too soon after.

Nicolae Titulescu died in Cannes, following a long illness, on March 17, 1941.