Victor V. Bădulescu (July 28, 1892–December 10, 1953) 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, and diplomat who was elected as a corresponding member 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 ...

. Born in

Găești Găești () is a town in Dâmbovița County, Muntenia, Romania with a population of 12,583 as of 2021. History The name of the town comes from a family of nobles (boyars) who owned most of the lands on which the town is now situated. Their nam ...

, Bădulescu attended the

Gheorghe Lazăr High School Gheorghe is a Romanian and Aromanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu (1869–1942), Romanian literary historian and bibliographer * Ghe ...

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 ...

, graduating in 1911. He studied at the School of Political Sciences in

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 ...

, obtaining a degree in Economics in 1914, after which he studied Law at 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 ...

. When Romania entered

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 ...

in 1916 on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, he went back to his home country, enlisted in officer school, and participated in the war, being promoted to captain. Upon returning to Paris, he published several studies and obtained in 1923 his doctorate in economic and political sciences from the Faculty of Law, with thesis ''Les finances publiques en Roumanie''. He then taught at the Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies in Bucharest and in 1927 he became a lecturer in the Department of Political Economy and Finance of the Faculty of Law at 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 ...

, where he established in 1942 the Department of Economic Policy. From 1928 to 1935 he was also director of the . After World War I, Bădulescu joined the National Liberal Party. In September 1925, he became a financial expert of the Romanian delegation to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

and participated in the financial and commercial negotiations carried out within it. In 1926 he was a member of the Romanian delegation in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(headed by

Nicolae Titulescu Nicolae Titulescu (; 4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was a Romanian politician and diplomat, at various times ambassador, finance minister, and foreign minister, and for two terms served as president of the General Assembly of the League of Nati ...

) for the regulation of war reparations. Subsequently, he was appointed a permanent member of the Economic Council of the

Little Entente The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia from 1929 on) with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revisionism and the prospect of ...

and of the

Balkan Pact The Balkan Pact, or Balkan Entente, was a treaty signed by Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia on 9 February 1934

, and served in the Economic Council of the League of Nations for four years. Between June 1927 and November 1928, he was general secretary of the Ministry of Finance. From 1934 to 1937, he served in governments headed by

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Gheorghe Tătărescu Gheorghe I. Tătărescu (also known as ''Guță Tătărescu'', with a slightly antiquated pet form of his given name; 2 November 1886 – 28 March 1957) was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania (1934–1937; 1939– ...

. Bădulescu was

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

of the Ministry of Finance of Romania from February 7, 1935 to August 29, 1936, when he was appointed undersecretary of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, a position he held until December 28, 1937. In September 1936, the American

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

in Romania, Frederick P. Hibbard, complained to him of the diminishing volume of United States export trade to Romania, "caused by the artificial barriers of clearing agreements exchange restrictions and import quotas"; Bădulescu expressed his regrets for this condition, which he attributed to "the inability of the Romanian government to secure dollars." Two months later, he signed, together with U.S. Ambassador Leland B. Harrison, an

extradition treaty In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

between Romania and the United States. In 1946, after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Bădulescu was part of the Romanian delegation to the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

as a technical expert. He also participated at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in the financial and commercial negotiations related to the payment of Romania's debts. On May 24, 1945, he was elected corresponding member of the Romanian Academy, but was expelled in 1948 after the onset of Communist rule. After being arrested by the Communist authorities on the night of May 5–6, 1950, he was sent to

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 ...

, where he died on December 10, 1953.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badulescu, Victor 1892 births 1954 deaths People from Găești Gheorghe Lazăr National College (Bucharest) alumni Sciences Po alumni University of Paris alumni Romanian military personnel of World War I 20th-century Romanian economists 20th-century Romanian lawyers Romanian bankers Diplomats for Romania Academic staff of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies Academic staff of the University of Bucharest National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Corresponding members of the Romanian Academy Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1946 Inmates of Sighet prison Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Securitate custody

Works

See also

References