Nicolae T. Păiș (July 11, 1887–September 16, 1952) was a

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

n career naval officer. Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, he attended the

Military Academy of Modena The Military Academy of Modena ( it, Accademia militare di Modena) is a military university in Modena, northern Italy. Located in the Palazzo Ducale in the historic center of the city, it was the first such military institution to be created in ...

between 1905 and 1907, and the

École militaire École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savo ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. After graduating, he entered the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flo ...

with the rank of second lieutenant, and was a participant in

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 ...

. He rose to commodore July 1927 and counter-admiral in March 1937. From May 11 to July 4, 1940, Păiș was undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Air Force and Navy in the government of

Gheorghe Tătărescu : ''For the artist, see Gheorghe Tattarescu.'' 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 P ...

. Then, from July 4 to September 4, he was Minister of the Air Force and the Navy under the premiership of Ion Gigurtu. On August 30, Păiș participated in a meeting of

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 ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. The eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I in 1914. He was the first of th ...

's Crown Council, where he was (alongside David Popescu, Gheorghe Mihail, and ) one of the four out of five military representatives who recommended accepting the provisions of the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all o ...

, by which Romania were to cede Northern Transylvania to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era rule of Ion Antonescu, Păiș served as naval undersecretary of state from 4 April 1941 to 19 February 1943, when he resigned. In November 1941 he was awarded the Order of the Crown of Romania, Grand Officer rank.Decretul Regal nr. 3.064 din 7 noiembrie 1941 pentru conferiri de decorații, publicat în ''

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, general ...

'', anul CIX, nr. 266 din 8 noiembrie 1941, partea I-a, p. 6.996. He was made a vice-admiral in the reserves in October 1942. His home was searched under the Romanian Communist Party-dominated government in May 1946, but nothing incriminating was found. Păiș was ill in bed, but was taken to the prison hospital at Văcărești. He was held for some time before being temporarily released. Rearrested by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

in August 1948, he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment the following January as a former dignitary under Antonescu.Ottmar Trașcă, Dennis Deletant, ''"Chestiunea evreiască" în documente militare române, 1941–1944'', p. 309. Bucharest: Institutul "Elie Weisel", 2010. In August 1951, he was moved from Aiud Prison 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 received no medical attention. In protest, he declared a hunger strike of forty days. After his death a year later, his body was buried in a mass grave on the banks of the Iza River.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pais, Nicolae 1887 births 1952 deaths Military personnel from Bucharest Romanian Naval Forces admirals Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Inmates of Sighet prison Inmates of Aiud prison Romanian people who died in prison custody Members of the Romanian Cabinet Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Prisoners who died in Securitate custody