GOLESCU, ALEXANDRU G. -NEGRU/ARAPILA (1819-1881
Born in Bucuresti, son of the high-ranking boiar Iordache Golescu and first cousin of the
Golescu b
rothers, one of whom had the same name. (To distinguish the two, Alexandru G.
Golescu acquired the nickname "Golescu-Negru" or sometimes "Arapila," while his cousin
Alexandru C. Golescu was called "Golescu-Albu.) Following studies at St. Sava School, he
graduated from the School of Arts and Manufacturing in Paris in 1839. He was an engineer in
Muntenia from 1840 to 1844. In 1843, he was a founding member of the
Fratia secret society, along with Nicolae Balcescu and others. In 1845, he
returned to Paris, where he was a founding member of the reformist/revolutionary Society of
Romanian Students. As a result, he became a close friend of Nicolae Balcescu.
Following the Paris revolution in 1848, in which both he and Balcescu participated, he returned to Muntenia to prepare for the Romanian revolution. Balcescu and Golescu-Negru contacted Captain Nicolae Plesoianu and Major Christian Tell, reactivated the Fratia society, and participated in the formation of the Revolutionary Committee. Ion Ghica, Balcescu, and Golescu-Negru were named the executive committee of the group and given full powers to organize and oversee launching of the revolution and its program.
With the establishment of the Bucuresti Provisional Government, he was appointed one of its secretaries (Balcescu, C. A. Rosetti, and I. C. Bratianu were the others). On June 29, he was chosen as envoy of this government to the European governments, charged with the task of trying to ral ly support for the Romanian revolution. His first diplomatic efforts were in Transylvania, then in Vienna, but were largely without result. In his meeting with the Ottoman ambassador in Vienna, he argued in favor of the Romanian lands' right to administrative autonomy and underscoring the perils inherent in Russia's position as a protectorate power. He was next sent to Paris in August as envoy of the regency that had come into office. Among his activities were the acquiring of arms and speciali sts, both military and civilian.
Golescu-Negru also promoted the Romanian cause in 1848 by publishing two reports, one on "A History of the Latest Events in the Principalities," and a second on "A History of the Russian Protectorate in the Principalities and of the Reglement Organique." After the crushing of the revolution, he went to Frankfurt, then back to Paris, where settled in exile. In 1849 he prepared a report concerning the Russian intervention in the Danubian Pri ncipalities and its consequences for the internal freedom of these provinces, a document which he forwarded to the governments and parliaments of France and England.
Following exile, he returned in 1856 to work in the unionist struggle that led to the election of
Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1859. He was a member of the ad-hoc assembly, later was several
times a cabinet minister and also served as prime minister.
G. Fotino Din vremea renasterii nationale a Tarii Romanesti: Boierii
Golesti (Bucuresti, 1939) 4 vols.
Anastasie Iordache, Alexandru G. Golescu (1819-1881) (Bucuresti, 1974)
Anastasie Iordache, Golestii: Locul si rolul lor in istoria Romaniei
(Bucuresti, 1979).
Anastasie Iordache, Pe urmele Golestilor (Bucuresti, 1982)
JGC revised this file
(http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/dh/golesa.htm) on
October 19, 2004
Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1999, 2003 James Chastain.
Anastasie Iordache
Bibliography