Carol I

Thanks for the etymology of the name of the rank, Elmar.

It was awarded in 5 classes to those "who through their participation to the revolutionary fight have brought a considerable contribution to the achievement of democratic liberties and the establishment of socialism".

Hi Brian! As Kevin said it is Ordinul Meritul Agricol (the Order for Agricultural Merit). It was established through decree no. 6 published in Buletinul Oficial no. 12 of 01.02.1974. It was awarded in five classes for agricultural merit. There was also a Medal for Agricultural Merit.

It's only personal information that was given. 20 pounds at an exchange rate 1 pound=667 lei meant 13340 lei. This was approximately the monthly salary of a state-employed specialist physician (10-12000 lei) or about double the salary of a chemistry engineer (7500 lei) before the beginning of the war. On the other hand, the passport fee was rather high, 1002.25 lei (1.5 pounds) being about 10% of the salaries mentioned.

No other notes until the end of the passport.

On 22 September 1937, Miss Nicolescu recieved permission from the National Bank of Romania to exit with 20 pounds.

...and on 22 September a Swiss one. Miss Nicolescu left Romania on 1 October 1937, passed through Hungary (according to the stamp on page 6), Austria (? - the purple rectangular stamp on page 8 on the Austrian red stamp), Switzerland (stamp on page 9) and got into France (no entry stamp or date). She then left France (no date readable on the stamp on page 7) through Switzerland (12 October) and got into Austria on the same date. After spending 4 days in Austria (If I read correctly the stamps) she left on 16 October and entered Romania one day later.

On 21 September 1937 Miss Nicolescu was issued Hungarian and French visas.

...on 13 August 1937. The issuing fee was 1002 lei and 25 bani (there were approximately 667 lei to one british pound in March 1937).

...from Bucharest, aged 17...

It was issued to Miss Hortansa Nicolescu...

Here are some images of an old Romanian passport.

Thanks Josef for the details on Austrian general ranks.

I think I made a mistake in identifying the modern correspondents of the old Austrian ranks. Maybe this is closer to the truth? Generalmajor = Brigadier General Feldmarschall-Leutnant = Major General Feldzeugmeister = Lieutenant General

On Wikipedia I have found the following notes. Maybe the latter also applies to Austrian Army. In spite of inaccuracies of Wikipedia, it appears that Feldzeugmeister was more of a rank than an appointment.

Thank you both. It appears that Feldzeugmeister was both a rank and an appointment. On the other hand, even though the appointment as Regimental Quartermaster implied quite some responsability I think that it did not (always) require general rank competence. So maybe in Smekal's case Feldzeugmeister meant a higher general rank.

Thanks Kevin. I have also found this explanation. Does it mean then that Feldzeugmeister was more of a function or position than a rank?

In a list from the Austrian State Archives I have found the following details about the career of Gustav Smekal (16.10.1863 - 28.9.1921): 1.5.1911 (13.5.11) Generalmajor 1.11.1914 (31.10.14) Feldmarschall-Leutnant 1.2.1918 (25.2.18) Feldzeugmeister 1.1.1919 retired Does anyone know what is the meaning of the double dates quoted above? As I am not familiar with the Austrian ranks I would also like to ask about the equivalents of the ranks/functions held by him after 1911. Generalmajor = Major General Feldmarschall-Leutnant = Lieutenant General ? Feldzeugmeister = ?

The Latin quote is: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori".

Nice pins, Kevin. During those times the national day was 23rd of August.

It could be Hungarian, Kevin.

Claudiu Marius Covrig was also awarded post-mortem the Order of the Star of Romania with wartime insignia. Press Release of the Romanian Presidency (Romanian language)

Lance Corporal Claudiu Marius Covrig (29) was killed today during an attack on a Romanian patrol in Afghanistan. Three others (2nd lt. Marius Vasile Apostol 24, serg. maj. Daniel Dumitru Drugan 26 and lance corp. Marius Barbu 30) were injured in the attack. Claudiu Marius Covrig was raised post-mortem to the rank of second lieutenant. Press releases from the Ministry of National Defence (Romanian language)

It depends what you consider 'forwards'. In official matters Family Name + Given Name was the norm and therefore Given Name + Family Name was ... 'backwards'. So it would be better said that the order was the other way around than in ... (fill in the dotted line).

The order of the names usually used in those days was Family Name followed by Given Name(s). At some point the 'Russian model' of using patronimics was introduced, but since Romanian language does not have patronimics it resulted in using simply the first name of the father or his initial. Using the rule above the names probably are Maria (first name) Simion (father's name) Hauptman (family name) and Dezideriu (first Name) A. (father's initial) Kopanyi (family name). With regards to the latter, Romanians in Transylvania were subject to a strong Hungarization policy during the Hungarian administration there of 1867-1918 as a result of which many names were forcefully hungarised, both family names and first names (Stefan into Istvan, Ion/Ioan into Janos and so on). In order to preserve their national character and resist hungarisation people retorted to giving Latin names or Latin-sounding names to their children. I suspect Dezideriu has been one of them. Most likely the farewell gift was the more common RPR version.