Virgil Madgearu - Biography

Biography

Born in Galaţi to an Armenian-Romanian family, he studied economics at the University of Leipzig and spent time in London training in banking. In 1911, he was awarded a doctorate in Leipzig.

After being employed by an insurance company, Madgearu was teacher at the Academy for High Commercial and Industrial Studies in Bucharest after 1916, and held the position until his death. With Dimitrie Gusti, he founded the Romanian Social Institute, which aided sociologists in first-hand investigation work.

As one of the leaders in the parliamentary opposition to the Alexandru Averescu government, he was at the center of a scandal in July 1921: during a prolonged debate, he was addressed an insult by the People's Party politician Constantin Argetoianu; promptly, the National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ion G. Duca expressed his sympathy, and helped weaken political support for Averescu (the cabinet was to fall in autumn of that year). Nevertheless, Madgearu's rejection of PNL policies and the Ion I. C. Brătianu government led him to join, in 1923, Liga Drepturilor Omului (the League for Human Rights), reuniting a diverse group of leftist activists such as Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, Constantin Mille, Nicolae L. Lupu, Constantin Costa-Foru, Constantin Titel Petrescu, Dem I. Dobrescu, Victor Eftimiu, Radu Rosetti, and Grigore Iunian; it was active until 1928.

He held several governmental positions in the Iuliu Maniu, Gheorghe Mironescu, and Alexandru Vaida-Voevod PNŢ cabinets: he was Minister for Industry and Trade (1928–1929; June–October 1930; August–October 1932), Finance Minister (1929–1930; 1932–1933), and Minister for Agriculture and Royal Domains in 1931. He also represented Romania at the League of Nations conferences on economy (in the context of the Great Depression), and was secretary of the PNŢ in 1926, as well as its leader for Ilfov County.

Madgearu was initially supportive of King Carol II, whom his party had helped bring to power, and remained sympathetic despite the confrontation between the monarch and the PNŢ leader Iuliu Maniu. According to the ironic account given by Petre Pandrea, the connection was tested by intrigue, after the writers Sergiu Dan and Ion Vinea allegedly stole a text by Madgearu (which was supposed to be published in Dreptatea), forged it by adding statements critical of Carol's policies, and sold it to Madgearu's main adversary inside the party, Mihail Manoilescu (Carol himself dismissed the letter as a fake, contributing to the ultimate PNŢ inner-conflict that caused Manoilescu to leave the group).

After Carol established his personal dictatorship, he continued to side with the PNŢ, which was active in semi-clandestinity. According to the PNŢ activist Ioan Hudiţă, Madgearu, with Ion Mihalache and Mihai Popovici, continued to support the king, and, after 1938, considered joining the National Renaissance Front.

An adversary of the fascist Iron Guard, he staunchly opposed its rise and the National Legionary State established in September 1940. Later in that year, after the remains of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu were discovered at Jilava (and the conclusion was drawn that he had been murdered on the orders of King Carol), Madgearu and Nicolae Iorga were among the victims of a wave of assassinations carried out in reprisal. Hours after the Jilava Massacre, Madgearu was attacked in his Bucharest house, kidnapped, and taken to the Snagov forest, where he was shot several times.

During the following decades, his killing remained a debated topic. It became apparent that Horia Sima (Codreanu's successor) was not able to justify it using the predilect excuse, as a direct answer to previous repressive measures. Unlike Iorga, who had assisted in Codreanu's arrest, Madgearu had not been responsible for any violent actions, and was probably targeted only for having served under Carol. Sima later argued that the series of murders had no relevant impact on public opinion (and even that it had led to an increase in his party's appeal). However, condemnation of the actions was widespread, and the resulting negative image probably contributed in rallying political forces behind traditional authorities, and the eventual ousting of the Guard by the Ion Antonescu-led Romanian Army (January 1941; see also Romania during World War II).

Madgearu's leftist views were treasured in retrospect by Nicolae Ceauşescu's communist regime, with its ethnocentric focus on regaining "progressive" precedents that were not actually communist (alongside Madgearu, several other Liga Drepturilor Omului members, and Iorga, the list also included Nicolae Titulescu, Traian Bratu, Grigore Filipescu, and Mitiţă Constantinescu).

Posthumously, in 1990, the Romanian Academy elected him a member.