Events from the year 1917 in Romania.

Incumbents

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Ferdinand I of Romania Ferdinand (Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad; 24 August 1865 – 20 July 1927), nicknamed ''Întregitorul'' ("the Unifier"), was King of Romania from 1914 until his death in 1927. Ferdinand was the second son of Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern and ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Ion I. C. Brătianu Ion Ionel Constantin Brătianu (, also known as Ionel Brătianu; 20 August 1864 – 24 November 1927) was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on seve ...

Events

*January 13:

Ciurea rail disaster The Ciurea rail disaster, known in Romania as the Ciurea catastrophe ( ro, Catastrofa de la Ciurea), occurred on 13 January 1917, during World War I. It occurred at Ciurea Station, in Iași County, a train station with a passing loop, located on ...

. The worst rail accident in Romanian history and third worst in the history of the world, with most estimates falling between 800 and 1000 deaths. *July 22-August 1:

Battle of Mărăști The Battle of Mărăști ( ro, Bătălia de la Mărăști) was one of the main battles to take place on Romanian soil in World War I. It was fought between 22 July and 1 August 1917, and was an offensive operation of the Romanian and Russian armie ...

*August 6-September 8:

Battle of Mărășești The Battle of Mărășești (6 August 1917 – 3 September 1917) was the last major battle between the German Empire and the Kingdom of Romania on the Romanian front during World War I. Romania was mostly occupied by the Central Powers, but th ...

. The largest battle to take part on the Romanian front during World War I. *August 8–22:

Third Battle of Oituz The Third Battle of Oituz was a confrontation between Romanian Land Forces, Romanian and, to a lesser extent, Imperial Russian Army, Russian forces on one side and Imperial German Army, German and Austro-Hungarian Army, Austro-Hungarian forces o ...

*September 13: Romania establishes diplomatic relations with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. King Ferdinand names

Nicolae Xenopol Nicolae Dimitrie Xenopol ( or , also Nicu Xenopol; Francized ''Nicolas Xenopol''; October 11, 1858 – December 1917) was a Romanian politician, diplomat, economist and writer, the younger brother of historian Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol and, like ...

as plenipotentiary minister to Tokyo. *December 9:

Armistice of Focșani The Armistice of Focșani ( ro, Armistițiul de la Focșani, also called the Truce of Focșani) was an agreement that ended the hostilities between Romania (member of the Allied Powers) and the Central Powers in World War I. It was signed on 9 D ...

is signed, ending the hostilities between

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

Births

* March 18:

Mircea Ionescu-Quintus Mircea Ionescu-Quintus (; 18 March 1917 – 15 September 2017) was a Romanian politician who served as a senator and Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency ...

– politician,

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, centenarian,

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

and chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) from 1993 to 2001. * March 19:

Dinu Lipatti Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti (; 2 December 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short by his death from effects related to Hodgkin's disease at age 33. He was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. He comp ...

– classical pianist and composer, posthumously elected into the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

. * June 6:

Ion Rațiu Ion Rațiu (; 6 June 1917 – 17 January 2000) was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician as well as the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) in the ...

– politician and the presidential candidate of the

Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, officially abbreviated PNȚCD) is a Christian democratic and agrarian political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor o ...

(PNȚ) in the 1990 elections. * June 20:

Iosif Constantin Drăgan Iosif Constantin Drăgan (; June 20, 1917 – August 21, 2008) was a Romanians, Romanian and Italy, Italian businessman, writer, historian and founder of the ButanGas company. In 2005, he was the second-wealthiest Romanian, according to the Romania ...

– Romanian and Italian businessman, writer, historian and founder of the ButanGas company, who was at one time the richest man in Romania. * August 28: – playwright. * August 22:

Alexandru Piru Alexandru Piru (August 22, 1917 – November 6, 1993) was a Romanian literary critic and historian. Born in Mărgineni, Bacău County,Alex. Ștefănescu"Al. Piru", in ''România Literară'', nr. 10/2002 his parents were Vasile, a notary, and ...

– literary critic, historian and member of the Parliament between 1990 and 1992. * August 25:

Ion Diaconescu Ion Diaconescu (; 25 August 1917 – 11 October 2011) was a Romanian anti-Communist activist and politician. He was imprisoned as a political prisoner for seventeen years from 1947 to 1964 during Romania's Communist era. Diaconescu later bec ...

–

anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

activist and politician who spent seventeen years as a political prisoner and later became a leader of the

Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, officially abbreviated PNȚCD) is a Christian democratic and agrarian political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor o ...

(PNŢCD). * September 3: Eugen Frunză – poet who co-wrote the lyrics to

Te slăvim, Românie "Te slăvim, Românie" () was the national anthem of the Romanian People's Republic, and later Socialist Republic of Romania between 1953 and 1975. The lyrics were written by and Dan Deșliu, the music by Matei Socor. It mentions Romania's brot ...

, which was the national anthem between 1953 and 1975. * November 18:

Dinu Negreanu Dinu Negreanu (18 November 1917 - 14 November 2001) was a Romanian film director.Dinu Negreanu
(aarc.ro)

Filmo ...

- director who created a string of films in the 1950s. * December 13:

Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, ...

–

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician, a leading member of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

, as well as a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

sociologist, historian, academic, and journalist.

Deaths

February 9:

Aurel Popovici Aurel Constantin Popovici (16 October 1863 – 9 February 1917) was an ethnic Romanian Austro-Hungarian lawyer and politician. Biography He was born in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire (today Lugoj, Romania). The son of an arti ...

– lawyer and politician who proposed the federalization of Austria-Hungary under the

United States of Greater Austria The United States of Greater Austria (german: Vereinigte Staaten von Groß-Österreich) was an unrealized proposal made in 1906 to federalize Austria-Hungary to help resolve widespread ethnic and nationalist tensions. It was conceived by a group ...

. *May 14:

Emil Rebreanu Emil Rebreanu (December 17, 1891 – May 14, 1917) was an Austro-Hungarian Romanian military officer executed during World War I. The protagonist in ''Forest of the Hanged'', a 1922 novel by his brother Liviu Rebreanu, is influenced by his exp ...

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Romanian military officer executed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

for trying to desert to the Romanian side. The 1922 novel ''

Forest of the Hanged ''Forest of the Hanged'' ( ro, Pădurea spânzuraților) is a 1964 Romanian drama film directed by Liviu Ciulei, and based on the eponymous novel by Liviu Rebreanu. Ciulei won the award for Best Director at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival. ''Fo ...

'' by his brother,

Liviu Rebreanu Liviu Rebreanu (; November 27, 1885 – September 1, 1944) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist. Life Born in Felsőilosva (now Târlișua, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania), then part of the Kingd ...

, is influenced by his experience. *June 18:

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...

- literary critic and politician, founder of the ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost personali ...

'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of

Romanian culture The culture of Romania is an umbrella term used to encapsulate the ideas, customs and social behaviours of the people of Romania that developed due to the country's distinct geopolitical history and evolution. It is theorized and speculated that ...

in the second half of the 19th century. *August 27:

Ion Grămadă Ion Grămadă (January 3, 1886—August 27, 1917) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian writer, historian and journalist. A native of Bukovina, he joined the Romanian Army and died in battle during World War I. Biography Born in Zaharești ...

– writer, historian and journalist who died in battle. *August 28:

Calistrat Hogaș Calistrat Hogaș (born Calistrat Dumitriu; April 19, 1848 – August 28, 1917) was a Moldavian, later Romanian prose writer. The son of a Tecuci priest, he studied at the University of Iași before beginning an over four-decade career as a high sc ...

– prose writer whose collected short stories were published posthumously. *September 3:

Ecaterina Teodoroiu Ecaterina Teodoroiu (; born Cătălina Toderoiu; 15 January 1894 – 3 September 1917) was a Romanian woman who fought on the front and died in World War I, and is regarded as a heroine of Romania. A Romanian Scouts member, she had initially wor ...

- woman who fought and died in

, and is regarded as

war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero' ...

, where she is known as the ”heroine of the Jiu”. *December 18:

– Politician, diplomat, economist, writer and first Romanian ambassador to Japan. Died in Tokyo, only months after taking the position.

References

{{Years in the Kingdom of Romania Years of the 20th century in Romania 1910s in Romania