Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his political career as a radical member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), he joined the Conservative Party in 1891, and became noted as a social conservative expressing support for several progressive and nationalist tenets. Ionescu is generally viewed as embodying the rise of middle-class politics inside the early 20th century Kingdom of Romania (occasionally described as Takism), and, throughout the period, promoted a project of Balkan alliances while calling for measures to incorporate the Romanian-inhabited Austro-Hungarian regions of Transylvania, Banat and Bukovina. Representing his own faction inside the Conservative Party, he clashed with the group's leadership in 1907–1908, and consequently created and led his own Conservative-Democratic Party.
An Anglophile promoting an alliance with the Triple Entente, he rallied politicians and intellectuals in support for the idea of Romania entering World War I. When this was accomplished through the 1916–1918 campaign, Ionescu joined the Ion I. C. Brătianu government in Iași as Minister without portfolio. After his country was defeated by the Central Powers and signed the Treaty of Bucharest, he left for Paris and London, organizing a Romanian National Committee to campaign for Greater Romania during the Peace Conference. In 1919, his Conservative-Democrats formed an alliance with the People's League, and Ionescu became Foreign Affairs Minister in the second Alexandru Averescu executive, before briefly holding the office of Premier in 1921–1922. During the period, he successfully campaigned in favor of the Little Entente.
He was the brother of renowned surgeon and political activist Thoma Ionescu, who was his collaborator on several political projects. Take Ionescu is also remembered for promoting Nicolae Titulescu, who went on to have a successful career as a diplomat and politician, and for his friendships with the dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale and the Greek politician Eleftherios Venizelos.
Biography
Early life and politics Born in Ploiești into a family of lower middle class origins, the eldest of four male children, he was the son of Ghiță Ioan, an entrepreneur who was facing insolvency, and his wife Eufrosina (or Frosa). Marius Dobrin, "Take Ionescu – un mare democrat, un mare european. Un om" ("Take Ionescu – a Great Democrat, a Great European. A Man"), in RespiroConstantin Xeni, "Portrete politice din anii interbelici" ("Political Portraits from the Interwar Years"), in Magazin Istoric, April 1975 Eufrosina was the descendant of Aromanian immigrants, and related to the Wallachian writer Ion Heliade Rădulescu.
During Take's childhood, the family moved to Bucharest and later to Giurgiu, where Ghiță Ioan began to accumulate a fortune after leasing a segment of the customs in the city. This allowed him to send his sons to study abroad; after entering the Saint Sava High School with a scholarship and graduating with honors, Take Ionescu (as he became known in his student days) entered the University of Paris and took a PhD in Law, attending courses together with, among others, the future politicians Raymond Poincaré, Constantin Dissescu, Constantin Arion, Grigore Andronescu, Alexandru Djuvara, and Alexandru Marghiloman. During his high school years, he began contributing to literary magazines and authoring works of verse and especially short stories influenced by the style of Gérard de Nerval and including the time travel story Spiritele anului 3000 ("The Spirits of the Year 3000").Florin Manolescu, Literatura S.F. ("Science Fiction Literature"), Editura Univers, Bucharest, 1980, p. 192.
While in Paris, Ionescu fell in love with an Englishwoman named Bessie Richards, whom he met a charity event, and to whom he dedicated his PhD thesis (La recherche de la paternité naturelle, "Research into Natural Parenthood"). After consulting international law on the matter of marriage, he decided it was best if he were to marry her in Britain. They sealed their union in a common law marriage in Brighton, and later through an Eastern Orthodox religious ceremony in London (November 1881). The couple were to settle in Bucharest, but made frequent visits to Bessie's native country for the rest of her life.
Upon his return, he opened a highly successful law practice on Bucharest's Costa-Foru Street (later known as Atena Street), and frequently traveled to various areas of the country in order to plead in various cases. His oratorical talent won him the moniker Tăkiţă gură de aur, "Tăkiţă the golden mouthed", based on a pet form of his colloquial name and the title commonly associated with eloquence (see John Chrysostom).Ioan Lăcustă, "Take Ionescu, din neuitare" ("Take Ionescu, from Memory"), in România Literară, nr.33, August 1998 (available through the "Cronică de carte" page at the România Culturală site) He became President of the Bar association in Ilfov County (at a time when it included Bucharest), in which capacity he welcomed the first-ever Romanian woman lawyer, Sarmiza Bilcescu (1891).Alin Ciupală, Femeia în societatea românească a secolului al XIX-lea ("Women in 19th Century Romanian Society"), Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 2003, p. 59
Originally a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), he was attracted to its Radical wing (led by C. A. Rosetti), wrote extensively for the Liberal newspaper Românul, and became a PNL representative in the Chamber of Deputies following the 1884 election. Marius Dobrin, "Take Ionescu – un mare democrat, un mare european. Un om politic" ("Take Ionescu – a Great Democrat, a Great European. A Politician"), in RespiroVasile Arimia and Vasile Şimandan, foreword to Constantin Xeni, "Portrete politice din anii interbelici" ("Political Portraits from the Interwar Years"), in Magazin Istoric, April 1975 One year later, while still in office, he left the PNL — this came at a time when opposition forces rallied against the policies of Premier Ion Brătianu, whom Ionescu had originally supported. Initially running as an independent in the election of 1888, being elected in Craiova, he switched to conservative politics (generally associated with the landowner circles), and joined the Conservative Party in 1891.
First ministerial positions and birth of Takism A leading figure of the Conservatives for the following years, he held several ministerial positions after 1891: he was Minister of Religious Affairs and Education in the Lascăr Catargiu cabinet (1891–1895) and again under Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (April 1899 – January 1900), as well as Minister of Finance (January–July 1900; 1904–1907) in both Cantacuzino cabinets. Romanian cabinets , at the Rompres site In 1899, Ionescu took the side of Jewish scientist Lazăr Şăineanu, endorsing his naturalization in front of opposition from the antisemitic faction among the National Liberals, and helped bring the matter for renewed discussion in the Senate. Laszlo Alexandru, "Un savant călcat în picioare (II)", in Tribuna, Nr. 152, January 2009Sainéan (1901), pp. 47-49 He also helped the scholar earn credentials by overseeing his conversion from Judaism to the Romanian Orthodox Church, and serving as his godfather. Laszlo Alexandru, "Un savant călcat în picioare (I)", in Tribuna, Nr. 151, December 2008 However, by the end of the same year, Ionescu had mysteriously changed in mind: he voted in favor of complicating naturalization procedures for Jews and, as Education Minister, stripped Şăineanu of his honorary teaching position within the University of Bucharest. A supposed atheist, he was criticized by the opposition for favoring an increased role for the Romanian Orthodox Church, and replied that it was a matter for his own conscience. During the period, he befriended the notorious and independent-minded dramatist Ion Luca Caragiale, who later supported his dissident politics.Tudor Vianu, Scriitori români ("Romanian Writers"), Vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1971, pp. 78, 187, 190
From 1898, he began issuing the French-language newspaper La Roumanie,Constantin C. Giurescu, Istoria Bucureștilor. Din cele mai vechi timpuri pînă în zilele noastre ("History of Bucharest. From the Earliest Times until Our Day"), Editura Pentru Literatură, Bucharest, 1966, pp. 171, 174–175, 185, 313 through which he publicized his own program, commonly referred to as Takism. At the time, contrary to the more cautious policies of his party, he began voicing full support for incorporating Transylvania, a region largely inhabited by Romanians and ruled by Austria-Hungary, into the Kingdom of Romania; he even made a symbolic conquest by financing the building of a road in the vicinity of Buşteni, on the Transleithanian side of the border. Initially, he welcomed the idea of Romania itself entering the Habsburg monarchy in a federalist project (see United States of Greater Austria), as a means to solve the nationality issue, Proiecte transilvane ca răspuns la crizele internaţionale de la începutul veacului XX ("Transylvanian Projects as an Answer to Early 20th Century International Crises"), at the Resource Center for Ethno-cultural Diversity, p. 126 but eventually came to oppose it; in a conversation with the PNL's Constantin Stere, who continued to support the idea, Ionescu declared: "instead of a foreign minister in Vienna, if Romania should join the Habsburgs, I would rather become a waiter in Chicago!".
He contemplated a future Balkan federation, and in a 1903 interview, argued that, although such a solution was "impossible for the moment", it "could perhaps be accomplished some day". Une Confédération Orientale comme solution de la Question d'Orient ("An Oriental Federation as an Answer to the Oriental Question"), 1905 article signed by "Un latin" (available for download at Project Gutenberg) Additionally, Ionescu supported the Vlach cause in the Ottoman-ruled regions of the Balkans, and supported the recognition of a "Kutzovlach ethnicity". Marius Dobrin, "Take Ionescu – un mare democrat, un mare european. Un om de stat" ("Take Ionescu – a Great Democrat, a Great European. A Statesman"), in Respiro In this last instance, he caused a diplomatic incident when, during a 1905 official trip to Istanbul, he attempted to present Sultan Abdul Hamid II with such a project and was denied an audience — consequently refusing to be presented with an Ottoman decoration, he was ultimately received and his report was reviewed by the Porte.
1907 Peasants' Revolt