Gafencu, Grigore

Gafencu, Grigore

(born Jan. 30, 1892, Bucharest, Rom.—died Jan. 30, 1957, Paris, France) Romanian politician. A journalist, he became editor of Argus (1924) and in the 1930s founded Timpul, which became Bucharest's leading daily journal. He was elected to the Parliament in 1928 and served in various cabinet-level posts. In 1938 he was appointed foreign minister as a gesture to the Western democracies. He tried to maintain Romania's neutrality in World War II, but in 1940 he was dismissed to appease the Axis Powers. He left Romania in 1941 and eventually settled in Paris.