Savel Rădulescu – Member of the Titulescu Team and Expert in the Optants Question

Abstract

The diplomat Savel Rădulescu (1895 – 1970) is regarded as one of Romania's financial experts during the Interwar Period and between 1944 and 1945. His present-day visibility can be attributed to his distinguished career, which included serving as Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1932 – 1936), having been a close associate of Nicolae Titulescu, and his criticism of the Soviet Union's abuses in Romania after 23 August 1944. The first objective of this research is to provide a concise biography of Savel Rădulescu, including his family background, education, professional career, skills, expertise, connections with friends and those in power, etc. Numerous archival documents contain crucial and diverse information about Rădulescu. The second and main focus of the research will be to present and analyse his role in the Romanian-Hungarian dispute over the Optants Question, closely examining his responsibilities and how he carried them out. As the author of a doctoral thesis on Romania's financial policies between 1914 and 1922, S. Rădulescu had already gained the trust of Vintilă Brătianu and Nicolae Titulescu by 1925. Rădulescu's significant contribution as a financial advisor to the Romanian Legation in London (1925 – 1928) in the matter of the optants was decisive in his employment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October 1928, where he served as a financial and economic advisor and director of the Economic Division. Savel Rădulescu's appointments to Titulescu's team in London or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were not by chance and were due in particular to exceptional skills and abilities. Keywords: Savel Rădulescu, Hungarian Optants Question, Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nicolae Titulescu