Early years Born in
Căiuți,
Bacău County, he was part of the old
boyar Rosetti family. he and his wife, Emma Bogdan, had four children: Radu, Henri, Eugeniu, and Magdalena. Radu attended primary school in his native village; in 1888 the family moved to
Târgu Ocna, and then to
Brăila, where the father was named
prefect of
Brăila County.In late 1892, the Rosetti family moves yet again, after the father is named prefect of
Bacău County.
World War I In August 1916, at the start of the
Romanian Campaign of
World War I, Rosetti was a major in the
Romanian Army, serving as chief of the operations bureau for the general staff In this position, he objected to the numerous promotions made two days before the
fall of Bucharest to the
Central Powers, ostensibly to raise officer morale. He believed promotions for their own sake cheapened the meaning of rank and eroded respect for the hierarchy. Although he too was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 22 November, In January 1917 Rosetti was put in command of the 55th/67th Infantry Regiment, with troops from
Piatra Neamț and
Bacău, and garrisoned at
Vorniceni, near
Botoșani. In April he fell ill with
typhus, and was moved to the Charity Hospital in
Iași, where he stayed until May. At the request of General
Constantin Prezan, Rosetti took command on 4 June of the 4th/72nd Infantry Regiment, composed of units from
Ploiești and
Mizil. With this regiment he fought fiercely at the
Battle of Mărășești, under the command of General
Eremia Grigorescu. On 19 August he was badly wounded by machine gun fire at Răzoare. He was then transported to the French Hospital of Notre Dame de Sion in Iași, where he was treated by Dr. E. Sorrel, and was visited by
Ion I. C. Brătianu,
Barbu Știrbei, and the Royal Family.
The interwar Street in Bucharest After the war, he served as military attaché in
London, from 1 July 1919 to 1 October 1920. Subsequently, he was named commander of a brigade and head of training courses for high-level officers. In 1924, he was advanced to the rank of brigadier general. before being
stripped of membership in 1948 by the new
communist regime.
World War II In January 1941, immediately after the
Legionnaires' rebellion was crushed,
Conducător Ion Antonescu asked Rosetti to join a
new government as
Education Minister. A longtime opponent of totalitarianism, he reluctantly accepted, but resigned in November after ten months in office. He invoked health reasons, but the real cause of his departure was aggravation at the tension that had arisen between him and part of the ministerial staff, who found his inflexibility and integrity an inconvenience to their various arrangements. On 7 November 1941 he was awarded the
Order of the Crown, Grand Cross class.
Last years #7305) Rosetti subsequently returned as library director, where he continued researching military history and presented his findings in speeches before the academy or in published articles. Under the principle of
collective responsibility, he was sentenced by the tribunal to two years' imprisonment in January 1949. Rosetti was sent to
Jilava Prison, where he was severely beaten. He died that June at
Văcărești Prison. ==Legacy and appeal==