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Constantin Karadja
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Prince Constantin Jean Lars Anthony Démétrius Karadja (November 24 1889, The Hague – December 28 1950, Bucharest) was a Romanian diplomat, jurist, bibliographer, bibliophile and honorific member (1946) of the Romanian Academy. He descends from a highly aristocratic family with Byzantine roots of Constantinople with rulers of Wallachia in the 18th and 19th century.
lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m2348950",this)' onMouseout='hide("m2348950")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Barrister">Barrister at law in England with studies at Framlingham College and in Cambridge and London, he spoke English, French, German, Romanian, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, as well as Latin and Greek.
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Prince Constantin Jean Lars Anthony Démétrius Karadja (November 24 1889, The Hague – December 28 1950, Bucharest) was a Romanian diplomat, jurist, bibliographer, bibliophile and honorific member (1946) of the Romanian Academy. He descends from a highly aristocratic family with Byzantine roots of Constantinople with rulers of Wallachia in the 18th and 19th century.
Education and studies
Barrister at law in England with studies at Framlingham College and in Cambridge and London, he spoke English, French, German, Romanian, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian, as well as Latin and Greek. Being a European by education, Constantin Karadja married and established himself in Romania (1916). He was naturalized and joined the diplomatic service in 1920, serving Romania in missions as consul in Budapest (1921-1922), consul general in Stockholm (1928-1930) and Berlin (1931-1941). With additional solid competences in economics, he also worked as a counsel in the Ministry of Finances, and participated 1927 as chief of the Romanian delegation to the International Economic Conference in Geneva. He composed a diplomatic and consular manual.
Bibliographical, bibliophile and historic activities
Being a passionate bibliophile and collector, Constantin Karadja founded one of the most important collections of old and rare books in South-East Europe, which nowadays can be found partially in the National Library and the Romanian Academy in Bucharest. Being accredited as consul general in Berlin and in parallel to his diplomatic activities, he continued his research concerning incunabula, realizing in this period the “List of incunabulum on the Romanian territory”. He published important works regarding the ancient history of Romania. Using unknown sources discovered by his own research activities, he released in 1934 his famous work entitled “The oldest sources published on Romanian history”. In 1940 he also presented to the Romanian Academy the first mentions of Dacia and the Romanians discovered in two incunabula from 1454 and 1472. More than half of the numerous scientific articles of Constantin Karadja were published in the three journals of Nicolae Iorga. As a result of his activity as bibliographer and researcher, he was admitted as honorific member of the Romanian Academy on the 3 June 1946. His letter of recommendation was signed by eighteen notable academicians, including Ion Nistor, Alexandru Lapedatu, Dimitrie Pompeiu, Gheorghe Spacu, Emil Racovita, Iorgu Iordan, Constantin Ion Parhon, Nicolae Banescu, Constantin Radulescu-Motru, Stefan Ciobanu, Radu R. Rosetti, and Silviu Dragomir. He was removed from the Academy by the communist regime two years later, in 1948. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he was re-established in 1990.
Diplomatic activity
Influenced by his humanistic and juridical education, Constantin Karadja constantly followed the principles of international law respecting human rights. He did not cede in front of political pressures, “doctrines” en vogue or potential “opportunities”, but engaged himself with perseverance in the protection of the rights of Romanian citizens living abroad, regardless of ethnicity or religion. As the Romanian consul general in Berlin (1931-1941) and the director of the consular department of the Romanian Foreign Ministry (15 June 1941–17 October 1944), “in both functions, during one and a half decades, Karadja developed an intense activity in order to save Romanian Jews surprised by the war in the kingdom of death”. “Tens of thousands owe their lives to his exceptional persistency, abnegation, determination and amplitude marking his long-term engagement in favour of the Romanian Jews stranded under the Nazi regime." Shortly after his dismissal on October 17 1944, he was re-appointed by the new foreign minister, Constantin Visoianu. “On September 1 1947 he was dismissed again from the ministry, this time permanently. This was one of the last measures taken by minister Gheorghe Tatarescu, who one month later, was himself forced to leave his post to Ana Pauker. Subsequently, the payment of Karadja's pension was refused. In an atmosphere of incertitude and menace, he died on December 29 1950.
Posthumous recognition
On 15 September 2005, Constantin Karadja received from the institute Yad Vashem in Jerusalem posthumously the title “Righteous Among the Nations” during a ceremony in the Israeli embassy in Berlin and in presence of the Romanian ambassador. His diplomatic efforts have been presented in detail on the basis of numerous letters, memos, reports etc. which he sent to his superiors inclusively to Mihai Antonescu. These documents can be found in the archive of the Romanian foreign ministry and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. They are the means by which Karadja saved over 51,000 persons from deportation and extermination—Jews (men, women and children) from parts of Europe dominated by the Nazis, especially from Germany, France and Hungary, but also from Greece and Italy (November 1943–July 1944).
Selective bibliography
- Eugène Rizo Rangabé, Livre d'Or de la Noblesse Phanariote et de Familles Princières de Valachie et de Moldavie, Athens, 1892
- Constantin I. Karadja: „Incunabule povestind despre cruzimile lui Vlad Tepes“ Cluj, Cartea Româneasca 1931, în volumul „Inchinare lui Nicolae Iorga cu prilejul împlinirii vârstei de 60 ani“
- Constantin I. Karadja: „Alte Bibliotheken der Siebenbürger Sachsen und ihre Wiegendrucke“ Gutenberg Jahrbuch, 1941, p.196-207.
See also
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