Gheorghe Tașcă (born Iorgu Tașcă, January 30, 1875 – March 25, 1951) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n economist, lawyer, academic, diplomat, and politician. He was a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy. After a distinguished career as jurist and professor at the

Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies The Bucharest University of Economic Studies (, abbreviated ASE) is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the ''Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies'' (''Academia de Înalte Studii Comerciale și Indu ...

, ambassador to Germany, and Minister of Industry and Commerce, he became a victim of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, dying at

Sighet Prison The Sighet Prison, located in the city of Sighetu Marmației, Maramureș County, Romania, was used by Romania to hold criminals, prisoners of war, and political prisoners. It is now the site of the Sighet Memorial Museum, part of the Memorial ...

Biography

Early days

Tașcă was born in Bălăbănești,

Tutova County Tutova County is one of the historic counties of Moldavia, Romania with the city of Bârlad as Capital (political), capital. Geography Tutova County covered 2,498 km2 and was located in the central-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the sout ...

, now in

Galați County Galați () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Moldavia region, with the capital city at Galați, between latitude, 45°25'N and latitude, 46°10'N latitude, longitude, 27°20'E and longitude, 28°10'E longitude. It borders the counties of Vaslu ...

. He was one of 12 children of Gheorghe I. Tașcă, a local landowner and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

, and Maria, née Dabija, the daughter of the local priest. He studied from 1886 to 1995 at the Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu High School in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

, after which he went to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

to study at the Faculty of Law of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

, graduating in 1899 ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', with thesis "On the evolution of rural property in Romania". After being admitted to the bar of

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...

, he became a member of the Conservative Party and was elected representative of Tutova County to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. On December 8, 1905, he married Cordelia Demetriescu, the daughter of historian and writer Anghel Demetriescu. A year later their first daughter, Elisabeta, was born (she married in 1929 Eugen Filotti), while their second daughter, Georgeta, was born in 1908.

Academic career

In 1905 Tașcă went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to pursue his studies at the Law School of the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

; on May 28, 1907, he successfully defended his thesis, "La question agraire. Commentaire critique de la legislation rurale en Roumanie, Angleterre, Irlande, Allemagne", written under the direction of André Weiss. Upon returning to Bucharest, he applied for a position in the Political Economy department of the Faculty of Law; although Tașcă won the competition, his appointment was vetoed by

Spiru Haret Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...

, the Minister of Education, on the theory that a law degree does not provide the necessary qualifications to teach Economics. In 1908 Tașcă returned to Paris, where he received in 1910 a second doctoral degree, this time in Economics, with thesis "Les nouvelles réformes agraires en Roumanie". Back in Romania, Tașcă applied again in 1912 and was offered an assistant professor position in political economy at the University of Bucharest. When the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

occupied Bucharest in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he took refuge in late 1916 in

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

; conscripted into the Romanian Army, he served as diplomatic courier between

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Returning to his teaching at the end of the war, he was promoted to associate professor in 1921, and in 1925 to full professor, a position which he held until 1940. In 1925 he was elected

corresponding member The corresponding member is one of the possible membership types in some organizations, especially in the learned societies and scientific academies. This title existed or exist in the Soviet Union, GDR, Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovak S ...

of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) 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 bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. He was professor of political economy and rector (1929–1931) of the Academy of High Commercial and Industrial Studies of Bucharest (now the

Political career

In 1910 Tașcă followed

Take Ionescu Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian Centrism, centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Sta ...

and joined the

Conservative-Democratic Party The Conservative-Democratic Party (, PCD) was a political party in Romania. Over the years, it had the following names: the Democratic Party, the Nationalist Conservative Party, or the Unionist Conservative Party. The Conservative-Democratic Part ...

, contributing to the development of its political platform. When the party was dissolved in 1922, he joined

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

's Democratic Nationalist Party, and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the 1926 elections. From 1927 to 1929 he was Editor in Chief of Iorga's magazine, Neamul Românesc. From May 1, 1930, to May 1, 1932, Tașcă was Romania's ambassador to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. From January 12 to June 5, 1932, he served as Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Iorga cabinet. He then became an admirer of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and, in May 1933, contributed to the reestablishment of the National Socialist Party.

Last years

Tașcă was arrested on August 1, 1950, by the Communist authorities and incarcerated in the notorious

Maramureș County Maramureș County () is a county (județ) in Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Máramaros megye'', in Ukrainian language, Ukrainian as Мараморо́щ ...

in cell number 58. He died on March 25, 1951, after a harsh detention regime and was buried at the Paupers Cemetery in

Sighetu Marmației Sighetu Marmației (, also spelled ''Sighetul Marmației''; or ''Siget''; , ; ; ), until 1960 Sighet, is a city in Maramureș County near the Iza River, in northwestern Romania. Geography Sighetu Marmației is situated along the Tisa river o ...

, in a common grave.

Works

* * * * *

Decorations and awards

* Commander of the Order of the Crown (Romania) * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tasca, Gheorghe 1875 births 1951 deaths People from Bălăbănești Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian economists Romanian landowners 20th-century Romanian farmers Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu National College alumni University of Bucharest alumni National Peasants' Party politicians Inmates of Sighet prison Romanian people who died in prison custody Politicians of the National Socialist Party (Romania) Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Ministers of industry and commerce of Romania Ambassadors of Romania to Germany Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Conservative-Democratic Party politicians Democratic Nationalist Party (Romania) politicians University of Paris alumni