In August 1916, after two years of neutrality,
\nRomania entered WWI on the side of the Entente. After a period of heavy
\nfighting and sacrifices, not to mention Bucharest’s occupation by the German
\narmy, Romania got out of the world war stronger and united, in 1918. The
\npoliticians and military of those troubled times have become national heroes,
\nleaving behind a blazing trail, which is now being documented, with a special
\nmention of the places and towns that had a special significance in their lives.
\nA project titled Personalities of WWI and their Bucharest-based dwellings has
\nrecently been initiated by the Arts History Association. Some of their homes,
\nmore or less luxurious villas, have stood the test of time and can now be seen
\nin the historical areas of the capital city. One
\nof them is situated in a district which was laid out in the early 20th
\nCentury and called the Ioanid Parcelling Out, after the name of the garden
\nstretching on a plot of land which was later parcelled out and put up for sale.
\nMany beautiful villas were built there, and one of them belonged to Vintil\u0103
\nBr\u0103tianu, the then mayor of the capital and the younger brother of Liberal
\nIonel Br\u0103tianu, Prime Minister and one of the founding fathers of Greater
\nRomania. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oana Marinache, a member of the Arts History Association is crayoning
\nthe biography of Vintil\u0103
\nBr\u0103tianu, the mayor of Bucharest when the Ioanid Garden was parcelled out:<\/p>\n
He
\nendorsed the parcelling out of the Ioanid Garden in 1909, andafter he
\ncompleted his mandate, he reserved for himself the biggest plot of land in the
\narea. The vegetal area, the garden or the district’s park were not adjacent to
\nhis property, but Vintil\u0103 chose for himself the plot of land at no.25. It was a
\nmatter of fate that after Ionel Br\u0103tianu passed away in 1927, his younger
\nbrother, Vintil\u0103, took over the party presidency. In his turn, Vintila, passed
\naway in 1930. But before leading the party, between 1907 and 1910, he had been
\nthe mayor of Bucharest.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The house built there in Neo-Romanain style by the
\nprominent architect Petre Antonescu can still be admired today, on Aurel Vlaicu
\nStreet. Oana Marinache has more: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We have a mixture of
\ninfluences and styles. For instance the massive volume of the house is
\nreminiscent of Oltenia’s cule, a sort of semi-fortified buildings, there is
\nalso a gate created under the influence of the vernacular architecture typical
\nto the sub-Carpathian region. The architectural style specific to monasteries,
\nparticularly the interior of monasteries in Wallachia, has strongly influenced
\nthe building. The construction was soon to become emblematic for early 20th
\nCentury architecture. As a rule, great political personalities convey a message
\nto the people, not only through the declarations they make, the political
\nactivities they carry out, but also through the lifestyle they embrace. Later
\non, after the Great Union, a Transylvanian stove was symbolically built in all
\nthese homes belonging to the personalities of the time. Thus, they tried to
\nalso showcase elements belonging to the province that many Romanians had been
\nfighting for, some of them paying the ultimate sacrifice for it. It’s a stove
\nwith tiles with black or green drawings against a light background. All boyar mansions
\nor houses owned by politicians have this type of stove, with motifs that are
\nalso political symbols. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In an office in that house, a secret understanding was
\nreached with the Entente on August 4th, 1916, a deal that would
\nsubsequently be approved by the Crown Council and which led Romania to war. And
\none of those who distinguished themselves during the war was General Henri
\nCihoski, a participant in the battle of Marasesti and a deputy with the General
\nStaff. In December 1920 he became in charge of reorganizing the army in
\nTransylvania, recently united with Romania, and in 1921 he was assigned the
\ntask to supervise the coronation of King Ferdinand, and also the construction
\nof the union cathedral in Alba Iulia. His house in Bucharest, designed by Alexandru
\nSavulescu and built in the modernist style, was finished in 1934 and it’s still
\nstanding in an area next to Ioanid Park, known as the Dumbrava Rosie plot. It
\nwas there that, in the early 1930s, king Carol II rewarded the officers that
\nhad distinguished themselves during the war, by giving them land. One of them
\nwas Henri Cihoski. From that house, where he was living with his family,
\nCihoski was arrested in May 1950 by the Communists. He died 11 years later, in
\nSighet prison. None of the officers that had taken part in WWI had a better
\nfate. General Ioan Dragalina, a celebrated hero, died in 1916, after defeating
\nRomania’s western border as commander of the 1st Infantry Division,
\nin Drobeta Turnu Severin. Unfortunately, he died on October 24th, of
\na septicaemia caused by a shoulder injury. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is Oana Marinache once more:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On October 12th, 1916, he left
\nby car, probably accompanied by another person, besides the driver, on a
\nsurveillance mission. They got caught in a burst fire and attacked by the
\nAustrian-Hungarian army. Although wounded, he managed to get out alive and was
\ntaken to a hospital in Craiova, then to Bucharest, at king’s orders.
\nUnfortunately, railway traffic was extremely heavy, the journal took too long
\nand he developed septicaemia. He died on October 24th, in terrible
\npain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the inter-war period, in honour of their father,
\nthe general’s children got land in ownership, in the
\nBonaparte plot, later renamed Park Ferdinand I. The plot is today home to one
\nof the most elegant residential areas in the north of Bucharest. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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