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Radu Scarlat Arion
Diplomat (1904-1991) |
Athens, Easter 1964
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Born: May 16, 1904, in Bucharest, as son of Scarlat C.Arion
and Caterina (born Christopol)
Family
Descends from an old boyar family, whose genealogic tree goes
back to the middle of the XVII century. Among its most illustrious names are:
Major-General Heracle I. Arion (1838-1903); Constantin C. Arion
(1855-1923), Foreign Minister in the Marghiloman government (1918) and
later deputy Prime Minister and President of the Conservative Party; university professors,
MP and Senators Virgil C. Arion (1861-1942) and Dinu C. Arion
(1884-1966); Plenipotentiary Minister Mihai
(Misu) A. Arion (1884-1963); MP and Senator Scarlat C. Arion (1868-1937).
Married in 1931 to Viorica Ionescu-Clejani (born
on December 22, 1905, Bucharest, daughter of Gheorghe Dobre Ionescu-Clejani (born on
April 8,
1880), graduate in Law (Sorbonne, Paris), conservative MP (First College, Vlasca) and of
Maria Ionescu (born on
March 19, 1884). Two sons:
Constantin, engineer (Imperial College, London) and Scarlat,
architect (Oxford Brookes University, former Oxford Polytechnic), professor of
Fine Arts and art historian.
Studies
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Secondary studies at "Sf.Sava" High School, Bucharest,
continued in Nice, France, where the family took refuge during the First World
War, via Moscow and St. Petersburg
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Graduate of Law (Sorbonne, Paris)
PhD in Roman Law (University of Bucharest)
Career
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1928, October 1 - admitted to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs as "Attaché de Légation", after having presented a
written essay on "The Extradition Principles and
Procedures" and a composition in French on the theme: "The Question
of Bessarabia in a Historical, Ethnographical and Political Perspective,
from the end of the XVIII Century to Date"
Identity Card, 24 December 1930
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1932, July 1 - promoted to the rank of Secretary of Legation, third
class
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1934, November 1 - released from active service at his own
request
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1936, November 16 - recalled into service
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1937, November 1 - promoted to the rank of Secretary of Legation, second
class
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1938, May 1 - appointed Secretary of Legation in Athens (he
is given the
choice between Athens and Washington and chooses Greece)
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1941, June 15 - becomes Chargé d'Affaires of Romania to
Greece and remains in this position up to February 28, 1946. During the
Italo-German Occupation, Italy and Germany had plenipotentiary
representatives for Greece.
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1942, September 29 - travels for
consultations with the leadership of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and is given an audience by the Queen Mother and is invited to
luncheon by King Michel; he also has a long meeting with Marschal Antonescu
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1943 - promoted to the rank of Secretary of Legation, first
class
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1944 - exceptionally promoted to the rank of Diplomatic Counsellor
The Chargé d'Affaires of Romania and
Mrs Radu Sc.Arion
at the Te Deum Celebration on May 10, 1943, at the Cathedral of Athens
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1946, February 28 - refuses to return to Romania under the regime
imposed by the soviet troops and remains in Greece. Thereafter he
rescues the diplomatic archive of the Romanian Legation, which are finally
returned by his son, Constantin Arion, during a ceremony held in 1992 at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest.
Athens, 1958
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1950 - becomes the Representative in Greece of the Romanian
National Committee, the Delegate of Romanian Welfare Inc. and of Caroman
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1991, September 16 - dies in Athens after a long illness
Activity in Greece
- during the Second World War, while Greece was under the
occupation of the Axis Armed Forces, he succeeds in obtaining from the
Government of Romania a shipment of 300 wagons of food, which was distributed in
Athens through the good offices of
Archbishop Damaskinos, Princess Nicholas of Greece and the Mayor of
Athens, Angelos Georgatos. Through his persistent interventions, he
persuades the occupying authorities to spare numerous lives, among which
are 53 workers
of the Tramway Company, skipper Constantin Tsatsos (later on admiral, cousin
of C. Tsatsos, President of Greece), professor Nicos Louros, Alexis Ladas and
Frank Makasky.. - he asserts himself as one of the outstanding contributors
of the newspaper "Vocea libertatii"
(Voice of Freedom), founded in 1954 by Greek-Romanian journalists, Basil
Moussou
and Doru Petropouliadis. The newspapar's goal was to "present to the Greek public opinion the real situation in Romania, which was
experiencing the cruelest domination of its whole history and to keep the
people's faith in the liberation of their homeland alive" -
in his publications and conferences, organized by the Assembly of Captive
European Nations, in Paris and London, he reveals the dramatic situation beyond the Iron
Curtain and denounces the
systematic destructions of human values in his homeland. He demands the
imposition of a set of sanctions to the regime in Bucharest, the respect of peace treaties and the observance of
human rights. He vehemently protests against the actions of the Romanian
government and demands from world leaders to ensure safeguarding people's
rights: "we
are now facing not only small injustices or small infringements to liberty, we
are confronted by the strongest oppression history has ever witnessed. Hundreds
of millions of people are under the cruellest terror ever in history, under
the most systematic terror; hundreds of millions of people, representing old
and powerful civilizations, are methodically and relentlessly destroyed by
the Bolsheviks". - he assumes the responsibility of helping numerous refugees
in exile,
even before the establishment of different organizations he will later
represent: the Romanian National Committee, Romanian Welfare and Caroman. He carefully
supervises,
with the help of the Apostolic Nuncio in Athens, Monsignor Testa, and of the United Nations Refugee
Aid, the transfer to Trieste of cca 12.000 refugees from Romania. In 1955, he
brings and distributes, on behalf of Romanian Welfare Inc., 163,000 kg of food
for Greek refugees, followed later on by a second quantity five times larger.
Decorations
- Knight of the Order "Steaua Romaniei" (Star of Romania)
- Knight of the Order "Coroana Romaniei" (Crown of Romania)
- Medal "Centenary of King Carol I"
- Grand Officer of the Order "Coroana Romaniei" (Crown of Romania)
- Grand Cross of the Order "Coroana Romaniei" (Crown of Romania)
- Officer of the Order "Steaua Romaniei" (Star of Romania)
- Jugoslavenska "Kruna IV"
- CB. "Caba IV"
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