Gheorghe Băgulescu (November 1, 1886 – November 26, 1963) 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 ...
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 ...
, writer and art collector. He served as
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
to Japan from 1934 to 1939. From 1941 to 1943, he was Ambassador to Tokyo and
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
, China, as well as Military Attaché to Tokyo.
Băgulescu was born in Flămânda, a hamlet in
Teleorman County
Teleorman County () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria.
The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''wild/crazy for ...
.
After having fought 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 ...
in a
Vânători de munte
The ''vânători de munte'' (, ) are the elite mountain troops of the Romanian Land Forces. They were first established as an independent Army Corps in 1916 during World War I, and became operational in 1917 under ''Corpul de Munte'' designati ...
unit as a captain, he was decorated in 1918 with the "
Order of Michael the Brave
The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...
" 3rd class, together with 14 other soldiers of the same unit.
He was appointed as military attaché of Romania to the Japanese Empire (1935–1939) and ambassador of Romania to Japan,
Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...
, and China (1941–1943). In 1939, the Japanese Emperor awarded him the
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese Order (distinction), order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six c ...
, 3rd class, after the publication of his book ''Japanese Soul''.
After the war, he emigrated to southern France, and materially supported the Romanian National Committee and general
Nicolae Rădescu
Nicolae Rădescu (; 30 March 1874 – 16 May 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre- communist rule Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 to 1 March 1945.
Biography Early life and education ...
. He died in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million
In 1973, the Romanian Ministry of Culture acquired a valuable collection of Japanese and Chinese art from general Gheorghe Băgulescu's estate for the Romanian National Art Museum.