Istrate Micescu


Istrate Micescu was a Romanian lawyer, Law and Political Science professor at the University of Bucharest's Law Department, and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania.

Early life and career

Micescu was born on 22 May 1881 in Ploiești to one of the families of the nobility in Romania, son of professor and liberal politician Nicolae Micescu and Maria Rădulescu. He studied at Sorbonne, where he also obtained his PhD magna cum laude. In 1918, he joined the National Liberal Party of Romania and was a deputy in the Parliament of Romania in 1920, 1927 and 1931. On 29 December 1937, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania in the government of Octavian Goga and A. C. Cuza. He served as Foreign Minister until February 1938.
Micescu was the author of the 1938 Constitution of Romania which established the monarchic regime of King Carol II of Romania.
Micescu was antisemitic and as head of the Justice Department he promoted and brutally enacted antisemitic laws. On February 7, 1937 he presided the Bucharest Bar Association when it decided to no longer admit Jewish lawyers to the bar.

Imprisonment and death

He was arrested in 1948 and sentenced to 20 years of forced labour for an imaginary conspiracy against the Communist regime. He was sent to Aiud prison, where he died three years later.

Private life

Married 3 times, he had 3 children: Roger Micescu, Mariana Micescu and Istrate Micescu Jr.
Bound to the land by a passion that had to do with a feudal notion of property, Istrate Micescu used to invest his earnings in small properties, some of which did not return any income. He particularly cared for the one in Ciumești, in the vicinity of Micești, where the roots of his family were and where he had his most beautiful mansion built.
His most famous property was the mansion of Micești, built in 1928 in Neo-Romanian style. The plans were drawn by architect Edmond van Saanen Algi and the building contractor was the famous engineer Corani. Istrate Micescu gathered there a valuable library, but it was scattered away after the establishment of the communist regime. The mansion was also used by the Ceaușescu couple as a hunting lodge.