Dem I. Dobrescu
Encyclopedia
Dem I. Dobrescu was a Romania
n left-wing politician who served as Mayor of Bucharest
between February 1929 and January 1934.
Born in Jilava
, he trained as a lawyer
and joined the Bucharest bar
. Alongside N. D. Cocea
and others, he also defended Communist Party
members during the 1922 Dealul Spirii Trial. In 1923, Dobrescu was part of the defense for Constantin Titel Petrescu
, leader of the Federation of Romanian Socialist Parties
, during a trial he faced for alleged insults addressed to the Romanian Army; Petrescu was eventually acquitted
. Earlier in the year, Dobrescu had joined Petrescu's Liga Drepturilor Omului (League for Human Rights
), which voiced protests against measures taken by the National Liberal
cabinet of Ion I. C. Brătianu
; the League also included Constantin Rădulescu-Motru
, Constantin Mille
, Victor Eftimiu
, Nicolae L. Lupu
, Constantin Costa-Foru
, Grigore Iunian
, Radu Rosetti, and Virgil Madgearu
.
Dobrescu ran in elections for the mayor's office as a candidate for the National Peasants' Party
(PNŢ). After winning, he declared the purpose of the office to be "not just administrative in character, but also social". Consequently, he created a series of non-partisan comitete cetăţeneşti ("citizen committees"), which were to oversee the application of norms in areas such as health, building maintenance, street commerce, and public safety. In the context of the Great Depression
, he took measures to ensure that the underprivileged were regularly fed through public expense.
He also soon began a series of major public works
: paving
most streets (with measures take to replace the many types of pavement in use with a single material); radical measures in electrification
and the expansion of the water supply network
; authorising the first buildings reflecting a modernist
style; widening and straightening Calea Victoriei
, as well as other major routes (with the reshaping of squares such as Piaţa Universităţii); sanitizing
and embanking the Băneasa Lake, as well as other lakes and ponds in northern Bucharest.
Although widely popular, Dobrescu's measures contributed, according to the newspaper Dimineaţa, to creating "unease — inside his party — unease on the outside". He eventually came into conflict with the Ion G. Duca
National Liberal government and was fired on November 13, 1933; the move caused scandal, and Dobrescu was reinstated as mayor on November 26, only to be deposed by the new Gheorghe Tătărescu
cabinet (which had taken over following Duca's assassination by the fascist
Iron Guard
) on January 18, 1934.
Dobrescu's leftist convictions eventually brought him into conflict with the PNŢ: he left in December 1935 to establish his own political movement, which took the name of the popular institution he had helped create — the Citizen Committees. It remained a minor anti-fascist
party, and disappeared in 1938, when King
Carol II
replaced all political forces with his National Renaissance Front
.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n left-wing politician who served as Mayor of Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
between February 1929 and January 1934.
Born in Jilava
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "humid place". Jilava was the location of a fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system...
, he trained as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and joined the Bucharest bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
. Alongside N. D. Cocea
N. D. Cocea
N. D. Cocea was a Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and left-wing political activist, known as a major but controversial figure in the field of political satire...
and others, he also defended Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
members during the 1922 Dealul Spirii Trial. In 1923, Dobrescu was part of the defense for Constantin Titel Petrescu
Constantin Titel Petrescu
Constantin Titel Petrescu was a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party.He was born in Craiova, the son of an employee of the National Bank in Bucharest...
, leader of the Federation of Romanian Socialist Parties
Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct)
The Romanian Social Democratic Party was a social-democratic political party in Romania. It published the magazine România Muncitoare, and later Socialismul, Lumea Nouă, and Libertatea.-Early party:...
, during a trial he faced for alleged insults addressed to the Romanian Army; Petrescu was eventually acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
. Earlier in the year, Dobrescu had joined Petrescu's Liga Drepturilor Omului (League for Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
), which voiced protests against measures taken by the National Liberal
National Liberal Party (Romania)
The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...
cabinet of Ion I. C. Brătianu
Ion I. C. Bratianu
Ion I. C. Brătianu was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party , the Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leader Ion Brătianu, the brother of Vintilă and Dinu Brătianu, and the father of...
; the League also included Constantin Rădulescu-Motru
Constantin Radulescu-Motru
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru was a Romanian philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, logician, academic, dramatist, as well as centre-left nationalist politician with a noted anti-fascist discourse...
, Constantin Mille
Constantin Mille
Constantin Mille was a Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, lawyer, and socialist militant, as well as a prominent human rights activist...
, Victor Eftimiu
Victor Eftimiu
Victor Eftimiu was an Albanian-Romanian poet, playwright, and a contributor to Sburătorul, a Romanian literary magazine. His works have been performed in the State Jewish Theater of Romania....
, Nicolae L. Lupu
Nicolae L. Lupu
Dr. Nicolae Lupu was a Romanian politician and medical doctor, active in the National Peasants' Party....
, Constantin Costa-Foru
Constantin Costa-Foru
Constantin Gheorghe Costa-Foru was a Romanian journalist, lawyer and human rights activist.He was born in Bucharest, on 26 October, in a wealthy family of Jewish origin...
, Grigore Iunian
Grigore Iunian
Grigore Iunian was a Romanian left-wing politician and lawyer. A member of the National Liberal Party during the 1910s, he rallied with the Peasants' Party after World War I, and followed it into the National Peasants' Party , before leaving in 1933 to create the Radical Peasants' Party-Grigore...
, Radu Rosetti, and Virgil Madgearu
Virgil Madgearu
Virgil Traian N. Madgearu was a Romanian economist, sociologist, and left-wing politician, prominent member and main theorist of the Peasants' Party and of its successor, the National Peasants' Party...
.
Dobrescu ran in elections for the mayor's office as a candidate for the National Peasants' Party
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party was a Romanian political party, formed in 1926 through the fusion of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and the Peasants' Party . It was in power between 1928 and 1933, with brief interruptions...
(PNŢ). After winning, he declared the purpose of the office to be "not just administrative in character, but also social". Consequently, he created a series of non-partisan comitete cetăţeneşti ("citizen committees"), which were to oversee the application of norms in areas such as health, building maintenance, street commerce, and public safety. In the context of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he took measures to ensure that the underprivileged were regularly fed through public expense.
He also soon began a series of major public works
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
: paving
Pavement (material)
Road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. Such...
most streets (with measures take to replace the many types of pavement in use with a single material); radical measures in electrification
Electrification
Electrification originally referred to the build out of the electrical generating and distribution systems which occurred in the United States, England and other countries from the mid 1880's until around 1940 and is in progress in developing countries. This also included the change over from line...
and the expansion of the water supply network
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
; authorising the first buildings reflecting a modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
style; widening and straightening Calea Victoriei
Calea Victoriei
Calea Victoriei is a major avenue in central Bucharest. It leads from Splaiul Independenţei to the north and then northwest up to Piaţa Victoriei, where Şoseaua Kiseleff continues north....
, as well as other major routes (with the reshaping of squares such as Piaţa Universităţii); sanitizing
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
and embanking the Băneasa Lake, as well as other lakes and ponds in northern Bucharest.
Although widely popular, Dobrescu's measures contributed, according to the newspaper Dimineaţa, to creating "unease — inside his party — unease on the outside". He eventually came into conflict with the Ion G. Duca
Ion G. Duca
Ion Gheorghe Duca was prime minister of Romania from November 14 to December 30, 1933, when he was assassinated for his efforts to suppress the fascist Iron Guard movement.-Life and political career:...
National Liberal government and was fired on November 13, 1933; the move caused scandal, and Dobrescu was reinstated as mayor on November 26, only to be deposed by the new Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
cabinet (which had taken over following Duca's assassination by the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
) on January 18, 1934.
Dobrescu's leftist convictions eventually brought him into conflict with the PNŢ: he left in December 1935 to establish his own political movement, which took the name of the popular institution he had helped create — the Citizen Committees. It remained a minor anti-fascist
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
party, and disappeared in 1938, when King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
replaced all political forces with his National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
.