Mihail Fărcăşanu - Youth and Studies

Youth and Studies

Mihail Fărcăşanu was born on November 10, 1907, in Bucharest, as the son of Gheorghe Fărcăşanu and Mariei Fărcăşanu (née Vasilescu). His father had a bachelor's degree in law but he never practiced. Besides Mihail, the parents had another three boys, Gheorghe, Paul (adopted by an uncle, Paul Zotta) and Nicu, and two girls, Margareta (married Bottea) and Mia (married Lahovari). His parents lived in Râmnicu Vâlcea, where Fărcăşanu attended primary school and then high school at Alexandru Lahovari High School (now Alexandru Lahovary National College), graduating in 1927 magna cum laude. In 1935 he attended the London School of Economics, where he studied under Harold Laski; Laski would go on to become president in 1945–1946 of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. Fărcăşanu often said that he was not so thrilled by the English study system and decided to take his doctorate exam in Berlin rather than in the UK.

He completed his legal studies in Germany at the Friedrich Wilhelm University (since 1948 Humboldt University) in Berlin. His doctoral dissertation Über die geistesgeschichtliche Entwicklung des Begriffes der Monarchie (On the History of the Development of the Concept of Monarchy) was completed under the guidance of professor Carl Schmitt. His thesis was later published by the Konrad Tiltsch printing house in Würzburg. In Romania it was published in 1940 under the title Monarhia socială ("Social Monarchy") by Editura Fundaţiei pentru Literatură şi Artă Regele Carol II.

Upon returning to Romania after his studies, he became a member of the National Liberal Party (Brătianu). In 1938 he married Pia Pillat, the daughter of poet Ion Pillat and painter Maria Pillat Brateş, making him brother-in-law of literary critic Dinu Pillat and writer Cornelia Pillat. His wife was the granddaughter of Dinu Brătianu, president of the National Liberal Party.