Constantin Sănătescu

Constantin Sănătescu (14 January 1885, Craiova – 8 November 1947, Bucharest) was a Romanian statesman who served as the 44th Prime Minister of Romania after the 23 August 1944 coup, through which Romania left the Axis Powers and joined the Allies.

General

Constantin Sănătescu
44th Prime Minister of Romania
In office
23 August 1944 – 5 December 1944
MonarchMichael
DeputyPetru Groza
Preceded byIon Antonescu
Succeeded byNicolae Rădescu
45th Chief of the Romanian General Staff
In office
11 December 1944 – 20 June 1945
MonarchMichael
Preceded byNicolae Rădescu
Succeeded byCostin Ionașcu
Minister of Internal Affairs
In office
6 December 1944 – 14 December 1944
Prime MinisterNicolae Rădescu
Preceded byNicolae Penescu
Succeeded byNicolae Rădescu
Personal details
Born(1885-01-14)January 14, 1885
Craiova, Kingdom of Romania
DiedNovember 8, 1947(1947-11-08) (aged 62)
Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
CabinetSănătescu I
Sănătescu II
AwardsOrder of the Crown
Order of the Star of Romania
Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd Class
Order of Saint Sava
Military service
Branch/serviceArmy
Years of service1907–1947
RankGeneral
CommandsIV Corps (1941–1943)
4th Army (1943–1944)
Battles/warsSecond Balkan War
World War I
World War II

Life and career

The son of general Gheorghe Sănătescu, he graduated from the Military School in Bucharest in 1907. He fought against Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War (1913), and in World War I. In between the wars, he was a military attaché in Paris and then London. A general in 1935, he was named deputy Chief of the General Staff in 1937. Sănătescu led the Romanian legation to Moscow in 1940, after the beginning of World War II. From 1941 to 1943 he commanded the IV Corps; from 1943 to 1944, he commanded the 4th Army.

When the pro-German dictatorship of Marshal Ion Antonescu was overthrown, Sănătescu was charged by King Michael with the forming of a new government. The government was dominated by the National Peasants' Party and the National Liberal Party, though Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu was appointed Minister of Justice, thus becoming the first Romanian Communist Party member to hold high government office.[1]

Sănătescu unsuccessfully tried to strengthen the ties with the United States, in order to save Romania from a Soviet Communist occupation, but the growing suspicion of Joseph Stalin forced him to resign on 2 December of the same year. He died of cancer in November 1947, and was buried with full military honors.[2]

Sănătescu was awarded the Order of the Crown, the Order of the Star of Romania, Order of Michael the Brave (3rd Class), the Order of Saint Sava,[3] and a number of other decorations.

Notes
  1. Bachman, Ronald D. (1989). "Armistice Negotiations and Soviet Occupation". Romania: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  2. Șomâcu, Cornel (February 8, 2012). "Generalul Constantin Sănătescu, salvator sau trădător?" (in Romanian). Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  3. Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 615.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References
  • Ichim, Eugen (2014). Generalul Constantin Sănătescu: pentru țară și tron (in Romanian). București: Editura Militară. ISBN 978-973-32-0950-8. OCLC 906611221.
  • Sănătescu, Constantin (2006). Jurnalul generalului Sănătescu (in Romanian). București: Humanitas. ISBN 973-50-1169-7. OCLC 73693614.
Political offices
Preceded by
Ion Antonescu		 Prime Minister of Romania
August 23, 1944 – December 2, 1944		 Succeeded by
Nicolae Rădescu


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.