Background
Ion Antonescu was born in the town of Pitești, north-west of the capital Bucharest, Antonescu was the scion of an upper-middle class Romanian Orthodox family with some military tradition.
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Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Medal of Military Virtue (1st Class in Gold)
Medal of Military Virtue (1st Class in Gold)
Order of Michael the Brave (3rd, 2nd, and 1st Class received)
Order of Michael the Brave (3rd, 2nd, and 1st Class received)
Iron Cross (2nd, and 1st Class received)
Iron Cross (2nd, and 1st Class received)
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Other photo of Ion Antonescu
Medal of Military Virtue (1st Class in Gold)
src="/web/img/loading.gif" data-src="/web/show-photo.jpg?id=1523219&cache=false" alt="Other photo of Ion Antonescu" class="gallery__img" height="167"
Other photo of Ion Antonescu
Order of Michael the Brave (3rd, 2nd, and 1st Class received)
src="/web/img/loading.gif" data-src="/web/show-photo.jpg?id=1523220&cache=false" alt="Other photo of Ion Antonescu" class="gallery__img" height="167"
Other photo of Ion Antonescu
Iron Cross (2nd, and 1st Class received)
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Ion Antonescu
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also known as
Red Dog
Education
According to one account, Ion Antonescu was briefly a classmate of Wilhelm Filderman, the future Romanian Jewish community activist whose interventions with Conducător Antonescu helped save a number of his coreligionists. After graduation, in 1904, Antonescu joined the Romanian Army with the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Career
After World War I, Antonescu served as military attaché in Paris and in London and, in 1934, as chief of the Romanian general staff. Named minister of defense in 1937, he retained office with the establishment of King Carol II’s corporatist dictatorship (1938), only to be dismissed after a few weeks as a sympathizer of the principal Romanian fascist group, the Iron Guard. Antonescu was appointed prime minister with absolute powers on Sept. 4, 1940, after Romania had one-third of its territory partitioned between Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union (June–September 1940). His regime was finally toppled by a coup d’etat in August 1944 led by King Michael; Antonescu subsequently was sentenced to death by the Romanian communist people’s court and was executed as a war criminal in 1946.
Politics
As Chief of Staff, Antonescu reportedly had his first confrontation with the political class and the monarch. His projects for weapon modernization were questioned by Defense Minister Paul Angelescu, leading Antonescu to present his resignation.As Chief of Staff, Antonescu reportedly had his first confrontation with the political class and the monarch. His projects for weapon modernization were questioned by Defense Minister Paul Angelescu, leading Antonescu to present his resignation.
Connections
He married Maria Niculescu, for long a resident of France, who had been married twice before: first to a Romanian Police officer, with whom she had a son, Gheorghe (died 1944), and then to a Frenchman of Jewish origin.
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Born
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Died
June 1, 1946 (aged 63) -
Nationality
Romania -
Ethnicity
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Religion
Orthodox
Career
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1934
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September 4, 1940
