Mihail R. Sturdza
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Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
Mihail R. Sturdza (August 28, 1886 – February 5, 1980) was a Romanian nobleman, diplomat and convicted
war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
(in absentia). He was a descendant of the wealthy and influential Sturdza family of Romanian landowners, politicians and
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...
s, and played a brief role in Romanian interwar politics. Prince Mihail Sturdza, originally a conservative and nationalist, was a member of the
Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
. As a supporter of the leader of the Iron Guard
Horia Sima Horia Sima (3 July 1906 – 25 May 1993) was a Romanian fascist politician, best known as the second and last leader of the fascist paramilitary movement known as the Iron Guard (also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael). Sima was a ...
, he was a brief period (September 14, 1940 - January 26, 1941)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is the ministry responsible for external affairs of the Government of Romania, Romanian Government. The current foreign minister is Emil Hurezeanu. List of ministers of foreign affairs (1862–1989) ...
during the so-called
National Legionary State The National Legionary State () was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led ...
after the abdication of King
Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...
. After several diplomatic posts (e.g. in Vienna, Budapest and in Washington as
chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...
) Sturdza was in 1929 appointed as minister plenipotentiary for Latvia, Estonia and Finland, in Riga. In that capacity he acted in 1932 as Romania's representative in the negotiations with Soviet Russia about a non-aggression agreement. The negotiations failed, due to the Soviet demand to discuss and annex the disputed territory of
Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
, which was a part of the Kingdom of Romania. Sturdza was from 1938 Romanian ambassador in Denmark. As Foreign Minister Sturdza attended with the German minister of Foreign Affairs
Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and diplomat who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ...
the signature on November 23, 1940 of the
Tripartite Pact The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Galeazzo Ciano, and Saburō Kurusu (in that order) and in the ...
with Nazi Germany between
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and the Romanian head of government General
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc ...
. In December 1940 Sturdza obtained the replacement of the German ambassador Wilhelm Fabricius with Manfred Freiherr von Killinger, perceived as more sympathetic to the Iron Guard. After the clash between the Iron Guard and General
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc ...
in January 1941 (see Legionary Rebellion), which was won by the latter, Sturdza had to resign. Antonescu took over leadership of the ministry, with the compliant diplomat Constantin Greceanu as his right hand. After the defeat of the Iron Guard in January 1941, Sturdza followed party leader Horia Sima into exile; first in Sofia, Bulgaria and afterward in Germany and Denmark. Sturdza became again Minister of Foreign Affairs in a self-proclaimed government in Vienna from 10 December 1944 until the end of World War II. After World War II, Sturdza fled first to Denmark, where he stayed until 1947. Afterwards, he found refuge in
Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and later in the USA, where he kept strong ties with other members of the Iron Guard in exile. He wrote several publications about the history of his native country and international affairs. In later years he was involved in right wing organisations. In 1968, he published his memoirs, which took approval in right wing circles for the cold war- and anti-communist points of view. Politician Gelu Voican Voiculescu is a relative to Mihail R. Sturdza.


Notes


References

* Dennis Deletant, Hitler's Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and His Regime, Romania, 1940–1944, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2006. * Nicolae Ciobanu, "Armand Călinescu: Jertfă pentru liniştea şi independenţa ţării. «Omul de oţel» împotriva Gărzii de Fier" ("Armand Călinescu: A Sacrifice for the Country's Peace and Security. The «Man of Steel» versus the Iron Guard"), in Dosarele Istoriei, 6/IV (1999) * Petru Ignat, Gheorghe Matei, "Asasinarea lui Armand Călinescu" ("Armand Călinescu's Assassination"), in Magazin Istoric, October 1967 * Mihail R. Sturdza, 'The Suicide of Europe', memoirs of Prince Michel Sturdza, former Foreign Minister of Rumania. Western Islands Publishers, Boston, Los Angeles, 1968. * Zad Rust, 'Teddy Bare The Real Story of Chappaquiddick'. Western Islands Publishers, Boston, Los Angeles, 1971. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturdza, Mihail R. 1886 births 1980 deaths Ambassadors of Romania to Denmark Members of the Iron Guard Ministers of foreign affairs of Romania Romanian landowners Romanian nobility Sturdza family Romanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Romanian exiles Romanian expatriates in Spain Romanian people convicted of war crimes Nazis sentenced to death in absentia