Ion Lapedatu

Ion I. Lapedatu (b. September 14, 1876, Cernatul Săcelelor, Austria-Hungary - d. March 24,  1951, Bucharest, Romania) was finance minister of Romania (1926-1927), Governor of the National Bank of Romania (1944-1945), and honorary member of the Romanian Academy (since 1936). He was the twin brother of Alexandru I. Lapedatu, historian, politician and President of the Romanian Academy.

Family

Ion I. Lapedatu was the son of Ioan Alexandru Lapedatu, Romanian poet, writer and journalist, professor for classical languages at the Higher Greek-Orthodox Romanian College in Brasov (today, National College “Andrei Şaguna”). He had a twin brother, Alexandru I. Lapedatu.

The twins became orphans when they were one and a half year old.

Ion I. Lapedatu married Veturia Papp in March 1907; she was the daughter of the orthodox proto-pope from Beiuș. They had two children, a son (Ion) and a daughter (Veturia).

Education

Ion I. Lapedatu attended the primary school between 1883-1888, first in the village in which he was born, then in Brașov .

He started high school in Iași, where his mother re-married after the death of his father. Two years later, he returns to Brașov, is admitted in the Higher Greek-Orthodox Romanian College, then continues his studies in the Real School followed by the Higher Commercial School in Brașov, obtaining his bachelor degree “with distinction” in June 1888.

Same year, he obtains a scholarship from the “Gojdu Foundation” and is admitted to the Oriental Commercial Academy and the Law and Political Sciences School of the Budapest University; he attends in parallel the Seminar for Higher Commercial School Professors. In 1900 – 1901 he is drafted and must interrupt his studies. After his military service he returns to Budapest, passes the fundamental examination in 1902, and obtains in 1904 the Diploma of professor for higher commercial schools.

Professional Occupations

At the end of his studies at the Budapest University, Ion I. Lapedatu turns down a professor position in Buda preferring to return to Transylvania, where he accepts the position of secretary at the “Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People” (in Romanian, Asociația Transilvană pentru Literatura Română și Cultura Poporului Român - ASTRA) in Sibiu (1904 - 1905), then he becomes secretary at the “Ardeleana” bank in Orăștie. In 1906, after going through successive internships at banks in Sibiu, Cluj, Budapesta and Viena, he was elected director of the Ardeleana bank.

1911 Ion I. Lapedatu becomes director of the newly established “General Assurance Bank” (Banca Generală de Asigurare) in Sibiu, and 1914 - 1916 is a member of the Council of the “Albina” bank in Sibiu.

After the refuge in the last years of the World War I (1916 -1917) and after the time he spent in politics, in January 1922 he is appointed Professor at the Chair for Public and Private Finances of the Academy for High Commercial Studies and Industry in Cluj, where he is active till 1938.

1925 he is elected in the Administration Council of the „SONAMETAN” Society established to exploit the methane gas discovered in Transylvania.

From 1928 to 1944 he was director, then Vice-Governor and finally Governor of the Romanian National Bank (Banca Națională a României, BNR).

Political Activity

Ion I. Lapedatu showed his political talent already as a student: 1902, he was elected President of the Academic Society „Petru Maior”, the society of the Romanian students in Budapest sustaining the Romanian language and culture through conferences, celebrations, debates, evocations of personalities, publications like the review “The Rose with Thurns” printed between 1876-1894, the “Society Almanac” issued in 1885 and 1901; it also entertained a choir and a library.

Ion I. Lapedatu participated in the National Assembly in Alba Iulia that decided on December 1, 1918, that Transylvania shall become part of Romania, receiving on this occasion his first political appointment as general secretary of the finance department in the Director Council of Transylvania, Banat and the Romanian Counties in Hungary (Consiliul Dirigent al Transilvaniei, Banatului și ţinuturilor românești din Ungaria).

Between 1909 and 1920 is repeatedly elected in the synod of the Sibiu archdiocese.

Between 1919 and 1931 he was elected twice as a member of the Romanian Parliament, and twice as a member of the Romanian Senate.

1926-1927 he was Romanian Finance Minister in the Government of the Marshal Alexandru Averescu.

1944-1945 he was appointed Governor of the Romanian National Bank.

Contributions to the development of the loan and assurance institutions

Ion I. Lapedatu played the central role in the institutionalisation of the “Conference of the Directors of the Romanian Loan Institutions” (Conferința directorilor institutelor românești de credit) initiated by Dr. Cornel Diaconovici in 1988, a model that has then been adopted by the Saxon institutions in 1903 and by the Austrian and Czech ones in 1905. He was elected secretary of the “Romanian Banks Delegation” (Delegațiunea băncilor române) that assured continuity in activities in between conferences, and in this position he drove the development of the initiative from a consultative to an executive role. He elaborated the Statutes of the future “Solidaritatea” Association in compliance with the Hungarian financial law in power at that time, enrolled the support required for having it registering and approved in 1907, and became its secretary. Under his influence, “Solidaritatea” functioned like a de facto “economic council” of the Romanian population in Transylvania, imposing advanced management concepts to the Romanian loan institutions, bat also providing financial support to the Romanian schools, churches, cultural initiatives in general, to the Romanian National Party, facilitating stronger relationships with the Romanian Kingdom. In particular, it was successful in imposing mandatory external controls through experts approved by “Solidaritatea”; this made redundant the control through Government experts, avoiding thereby potential tensions between the policy of consolidation of a centralized Hungarian national State and the aspirations for self-determination of the ethnic minorities.

Ion I. Lapedatu is credited to be the founder of the assurance system for the Romanians in Transylvania. He authored the “Theory of the life assurance” published in 1902 in the “Economic Review” (Revista Economică) in Brașov, the first work on this topic in the area. In his quality as secretary of “Solidaritatea”, he embraced the idea of a Romanian assurance bank launched at the Conference of the Directors of the Romanian Loan Institutions; elaborated the feasibility study; advocated the initiative both with potential participants and with the authorities; published “clarifications” in the “Economic Review”, motivating it by the fact that the institutions already existent in Transylvania and in particular in Sibiu, both those founded locally by the Saxons or the Hungarians and those established as branches of assurance companies from Austria, Germany, Italy or France, were hardly accessible to the Romanian population. Ion I. Lapedatu prepared the foundation documents, run the subscription campaign and obtained all necessary approvals for launching of the “General Assurance Bank” in 1911. He was appointed general director. This became one of the most important assurance institutions in the united Romania, changing its name first in “Romania”, then in “Prima Ardeleană”.

International Missions

Ion I. Lapedatu has been appointed president of the “Liquidation Commission in Budapest” (Comisiunii de Lichidare la Budapesta) in March 1920. He was entitled to select the Commission members according to the needed competencies in order to close open public and private issues between Hungary and Romania, as well as between citizens of these countries, arising from the integration of Transylvania into Romania. In March 1921, the commission was transformed into the “Romanian Financial and Economic Mission to Budapest” (Misiunea Financiară și Economică la Budapesta) that closed its work in May 1922. The issues addressed in Budapest have been then solved at the “Bucharest Romanian-Hungarian Conference” (Conferința româno­ungară de la București) in 1923-1924.

Upon a request from the Ministry of External Affairs, he interrupted for a few weeks his mission to Budapest in order to join the Romanian delegation in the “Paris Reparation Commission” addressing the repartition of the Austrian-Hungarian public debt. 

1922 he was a member of the Romanian delegation in the “Conference of the Successor States of the Former Habsburg Monarchy” (Conferința Statelor succesorale ale fostei monarhii habsburgice) in Rome, missioned to solve together with the Austrian and Hungarian representatives different issues arising from the peace treaties. 1925 he also participated in the second “Conference of the Successor States” (Conferință a statelor succesorale) that took place in Prague.

In the summer of 1928 he participated in the commission that addressed in Berlin the contentious issues with Germany.

1930 Ion I. Lapedatu has been elected as President of the Romanian delegation to address the question of the Gojdu Foundation, following the agreement signed between the Ministries of External Affairs of Romania and Hungary by which the two countries committed to solve the issue. He succeeded to reach an amiable conclusion in 1936; it was ratified by the Romanian Parliament, but unfortunately not by Hungarian Parliament.

In November 1936 he participated as the representative of the Romanian National Bank in the third “Conference of the Emission Banks of the Small Entente” (Conferință a Băncilor de Emisiune din Mica Înțelegere) in Prague. Same year and in the same quality he participated in the first “Conference of the Emission Banks of the Balkan Entente” (Conferință a Băncilor de Emisiune ale statelor din „Antanta Balcanică”) in Athens.

Publishing, cultural and social activities

Ion I. Lapedatu had an intensive publishing activity in his specialty. He started his long lasting collaboration with the “Economic Review” (Revista Economică) in 1902 as he was a student in Budapest, and became its director in 1906. Ion I. Lapedatu published 18 books; 2 monographies; 298 studies, notes, general economic analyses and reports; 20 papers; 13 speeches on economic, social and political subjects.

He also published on general interest subjects, contributing already in his college years to “Transylvania Journal” (Gazeta Transilvaniei) and “Romanian Telegraph” (Telegraful Român) in Sibiu. As a student he was among the founders of the “Morning Star” (Luceafărul) review in Budapest in 1902, was a member of the redaction committee since inception together with Octavian Goga, Ioan Lupaș, Octavian C. Tăslăuanu etc., continuing in this capacity in the years 1906 – 1920 when the publishing took place bi-monthly in Sibiu.

Ion I. Lapedatu has been elected Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy on May 25, 1936; the membership has been withdrawn in August 1948 and reinstated in July 1990.

Ion I. Lapedatu had a passion for hiking. He was for more than 20 years an active member of the „Siebenbürgischer Karpathen Verein”, the hiking association of the Saxons in Brașov; he was also a member in the „Turing Clubul of Romania”, in „Admir”, in the Hungarian „Brașov Touring Association” and in the „Enczian” society of the young Hungarian hand workers in Brașov. Ion I. Lapedatu was for a long time the President of the Cultural and Sportive Association of the Romanian National Bank Employees; he described his ideas and his experience in the inaugural speech delivered at the opening of the National Bank Chalet at Diham in 1945.

Charities

In all his functions. Ion I. Lapedatu provided significant financial means to support artists; educational institutions like the Administration of the Central Romanian Orthodox Schools (Eforia Școalelor Centrale Ortodoxe Române) in Brașov; the construction of monuments like the Unknown soldier monument in Săcele or the orthodox cathedral in Orăștie; and the restauration of the patrimony items including the Curtea de Argeș monastery and the Golești architectural complex.

Ion I. Lapedatu was elected together with Valeriu Braniște, Ioan Lupaș, Octavian Goga and Ioan Agârbiceanu in the administration council of the Foundation for the support of Romanian journalists established by Dr. Ioan Mihu in 1911. He assumed the task to collect funds, and complemented contributions from significant donors with a “greetings fond” in which small contribution could be made instead of sending cards or gifts: the Foundation published the donation to inform the addressees of the greetings. 1918, as Ion I. Lapedatu had to stop his activity dedicating his time and energy to the integration of Transylvania in the united Romania, the Foundation and its patrimony have been transferred to the “Union of Transylvanian Journalists” (Sindicatului Ziariștilor Ardeleni).

On September 14, 1939, Ion Al. Lapedatu registered the “Establishment Veturia I. Lapedatu” (Așezământul Veturia I. Lapedatu), charitable institution for retired intellectuals with limited financial means and for deserving students. It was established at his initiative and essentially with his financial contributions, but also with contributions from former beneficiaries of the “Students’ Table” (Masa Studenților) in Sibiu that was funded by the Albina bank and has been directed for several years by Veturia I. Lapedatu. The Establishment was later transferred to the Orthodox Church; its patrimony has been nationalized and its financial means lost their value following the monetary stabilization.

Distinctions

Comandor of the “Order of the Crown” (Coroana României), 1921

Cordon of the “Order of the Crown”, 1927

Big Cross of the “White Lion”, Czechoslovakian Government, 1936

End of life

1945 Ion I. Lapedatu has been dismissed from the Romanian National Bank, his pensions as bank Governor and University professor have been cut under the justification that he had revenues from his properties. Between 1945 and 1948 all his properties have been nationalized. Without any means, he lived with his daughter’s family.

After a bus accident from 1947, he was immobilized in bed; for this reason he has not been arrested in 1949 in the group of “dignitaries” as was his brother, although he was under investigation by the General Direction of State Security (Direcția Generala a Securității Statului). He passed away on March 24, 1951 in Bucharest, after long suffering. He is buried in the "Groaveri" cemetery in Brașov.