“Virtutea Militara” Medal

“Star of Romania” (SR) Medal with spades for war service

“Order of St. Stanislas” Medal with Swords by Tsarist Government

“Furajera Medal of the Order of Mihai Viteazul” Medal by King Ferdinand

“Military Cross” Medal by Order of King George V of England

“Commander of the Royal Victorian Order”

Born in Titu, Romania, the son of an engineer, he was admitted to the G. Lazar High School in Bucharest. While a student there, he founded the Romanian Boy Scout movement in 1913. In 1916 he joined the army in a unit led by Prince Carol. Serving in WW I against Germany, he rose to the rank of Captain after service in the Marasesti/Oituz battle zone. For special services in helping sabotage the nation’s oil wells in Ploesti to prevent their exploitation by Germany, he was awarded the Military Cross (MC) by personal order of King George V of England. This honor was rarely awarded to foreigners at the time; later he received the title of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) from the British Sovereign. Higher education took him to the United States and engineering studies at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduating with distinction he was invited by Prince Antoine Bibesco to serve in the the diplomatic service in the Washington, D.C., legation. A career in diplomatic service ensued taking him to further posts in the UK and USA. For a short period he was designated Director General for Propaganda and Tourism in 1937-1938. (link)

While serving as a diplomat in London, he chose in 1941 to resign from the service when the Antonescu dictatorship was established in collaboration with the Nazi government. He soon co-founded the Romanian Free Movement led by Ambassador Tilea. At the same time, he was invited by P.M. Winston Churchill to serve in Political Intelligence against the Germans in Romania. At war’s end he re-entered diplomatic service during the period of post-war treaty negotiations at the Paris and New York conferences. In 1947 he went into exile after the communist coup and lived in Marrakech, Morocco, for eight years before emigrating with his family to the United States in 1956.

NOTE:
Click HERE for extracts of his memoirs covering his first diplomatic post in Washington, D.C. (1920s).