Nicolae T. Păiș (July 11, 1887–September 16, 1952) 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 career naval officer. Born in

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 ...

, he attended the

Military Academy of Modena The Military Academy of Modena () is a military university in Modena, northern Italy. Located in the Ducal Palace of Modena in the historic center of the city, it was the first such military institution to be created in the world. The academy i ...

between 1905 and 1907, and the

École militaire École or Ecole 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 * Éco ...

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 ...

. After graduating, he entered the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Naval Forces () is the principal naval branch of the Romanian Armed Forces and 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 flotilla on ...

with the rank of second lieutenant, and was a participant 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 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. 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 a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

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

's Crown Council, where he was (alongside

David Popescu David Popescu (25 May 1886 – 11 April 1955) was a Romanian general during World War II and Interior Minister in 1940. Biography He was born in 1886 in Comarnic, Prahova County, Kingdom of Romania, the son of Iulian (a priest) and Maria. He at ...

, 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 was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

, by which Romania were to cede

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

. During the

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 ...

-era rule of

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

, 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 The Order of the Crown of Romania is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881 by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947. ...

, 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 government gazette, gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgation, promulgated bills, President of Romania, presidential decrees, Government of Romania, governmental ordinances and other m ...

'', 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 The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

-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 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 ...

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. He died a year later in cell 27, and his body was buried in a mass grave 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 ...

, on the banks of the

Iza River The Iza is a left tributary of the river Tisa in northern Romania. Its source is in the Rodna Mountains. It flows into the Tisa near the city Sighetu Marmației. It passes through the communes Săcel, Săliștea de Sus, Dragomirești, Bogdan V ...

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 Members of the Romanian Cabinet Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Inmates of Aiud prison Inmates of Văcărești Prison Inmates of Sighet prison Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Securitate custody