Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa

Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa (October 22, 1895–December 17, 1989) was a Romanian sociologist, journalist, left-wing politician and diplomat.

Born Răcoasa, Vrancea County, his parents were Constantin (1862-1946), the village notary, and his wife Maria (née Lefter; 1865-1965), a schoolteacher. He attended primary school in his native village and in Focșani between 1902 and 1906. From 1906 to 1914, he studied at Bârlad's Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu High School. He then entered the law faculty of Iași University; from 1914 to 1915, he contributed to the weekly Cuvântul studențimii. He interrupted his studies in 1916, when Romania joined World War I and he was mobilized. An infantry lieutenant, he was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1917, interned at Breesen and released late in 1918. Upon his return to civilian life, he resumed his studies, this time at the literature and philosophy faculty of Bucharest University.

In September 1920, he became editing secretary for Curierul Artelor weekly, and would remain as such until the end of the following year. Later in 1920, he became Dimitrie Gusti's first teaching assistant in his sociology seminar, and continued helping with the course until 1929. In early 1921, Gusti's Social Institute took shape; within this organization, Vlădescu-Răcoasa would serve as administrative director and represent the organization on the international level. In May, he married Margareta Popescu; the couple's son Iustinian was born in 1922, and their daughter Mioara in 1923.

In 1922, he was editor-in-chief at Nicolae Iorga's Neamul românesc, and became editing secretary in autumn. In 1923, he obtained a university degree at Bucharest, became director of Gazeta Copiilor and was officially named Gusti's teaching assistant. In 1924, he founded a university organization in support of the League of Nations, serving as president until 1928. The same year, he became a frequent contributor to Societatea de mâine. In 1925, the Institute held a series of public speeches at the Carol I University Foundation; these were covered by Vlădescu-Răcoasa in Adevărul, where he was editor, and he would later write about similar events in Dimineața. That spring, Gusti initiated the first of his monographic research campaigns, in Dolj County's Goicea village; Vlădescu-Răcoasa was among the participants. The following year, he joined the team studying Rușețu, Brăila County. In 1926, he published Institutul Social Român. 1919-1926. From 1926 to 1928, he undertook studies at the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, obtaining a doctorate in social sciences.

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