30 Facts About Eugen Filotti

Eugen Filotti's father, Nicolae Filotti was a military pharmacist, having the rank of lieutenant and his mother, Aurelia Filotti was the daughter of doctor Iacob Felix.

Eugen Filotti was the second child of the family, having a brother Mircea Filotti, his elder by four years.

Nicolae Filotti died of tuberculosis when Eugen Filotti was only 2 years old and his mother had to struggle to raise her two sons with the small resources provided by her husband's pension.

Eugen's brother, film producer and screenwriter Mircea Filotti was in charge of the film chronicle.

However, besides publishing their ideas, the group of young enthusiasts to which Eugen Filotti belonged, attempted to organize important cultural events which would help them promote their ideas.

Eugen Filotti predicted that this type of art would be understood only when the contemporary civilization would learn to look at painting in absolute purity.

Eugen Filotti's speech quoted works of Wassily Kandinsky, Maurice de Vlaminck, Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, as well as those of Constantin Brancusi and other Romanian artists.

The group who had organized the exhibition, including Eugen Filotti supported a modernist, rationalist, democratic trend and wanted to promote a spiritual interaction with the rest of the world.

Gradually detaching himself from the Romanian internal cultural life, Eugen Filotti increasingly oriented his journalistic activity towards foreign policy, which had been his main concern in the early years of his career.

In 1927, Eugen Filotti decided to give up journalism and to pursue a diplomatic career.

In 1929 Eugen Filotti married Elisabeta Tasca, daughter of professor Gheorghe Tasca, at that time rector of the Academy for High Commercial and Industrial Studies in Bucharest.

In 1930, Eugen Filotti is promoted Director of the Press and of Information in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Eugen Filotti hoped that this stratagem would help him hide his identity from the Romanian authorities and, at the same time, would enable him claim that he used it to elude the censorship existing in Romania.

Eugen Filotti was able to point these malversations and, at last, Julius Kover was expelled from Romania.

Apart from his activities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after returning from his missions in Prague and in Geneva, Eugen Filotti renewed his contacts with the Romanian cultural elite.

Eugen Filotti's diplomatic experience was an important element in defining the position of the Romanian delegation at the Dubrovnik congress.

Eugen Filotti was able to convince Victor Eftimiu to pass a resolution of the committee, expressing its reservations towards Germany.

In 1935 Eugen Filotti was appointed plenipotentiary minister to Ankara.

Eugen Filotti made important efforts to strengthen the Romanian High School in Thessaloniki and to extend the network of Romanian primary schools which had been established in the villages of Epirus, Thessaly, West and Central Macedonia with high concentrations of Aromanian population.

Eugen Filotti took care of the quality of education provided, ensuring that good material conditions would encourage well qualified teachers from Romania to compete for positions in the Romanian schools in Greece.

The problems of minorities were an important to the bilateral Romano-Bulgarian diplomatic relations and it was inevitable that, in his new position, Eugen Filotti would be confronted with issues related the rights of the Romanian minority in Bulgaria.

However, Eugen Filotti was not concerned any more with these aftermaths of the Treaty of Craiova.

Eugen Filotti was assigned a new mission which was to be even more challenging.

Eugen Filotti was appointed the new Romanian minister plenipotentiary to Budapest.

Eugen Filotti was able to set up a system by which the required information could be collected so that he could transmit it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest who, in turn, would forward the required documentation to the arbitration commission.

Therefore, on these matters Eugen Filotti forwarded protest notes directly to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Budapest.

Eugen Filotti had frequent contacts with the church authorities in order to assess the needs as well as the ways of supporting these activities from Romania.

In July 1944, Eugen Filotti came to Bucharest, in order to present to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs information regarding Northern Transylvania, necessary to prepare the Romanian claims at a future peace conference.

Immediately after Romania switched sided on August 23,1944, and joined the Allies, Eugen Filotti was appointed secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under foreign minister Grigore Niculescu-Buzesti in the government headed by general Constantin Sanatescu.

Eugen Filotti kept the same position, under foreign minister Constantin Visoianu in the following government, headed by general Nicolae Radescu.