Cantacuzino family - Princely branch

***This branch ( also known as Rafoveanu; see first two paragraphs ) descends from Serban Cantacuzino, Lord of Wallachia ( 1678-1688 ), participant in the Siege of Vienna ( 1683 ), founder of Cotroceni Monastery in Bucharest, later transformed into Royal residence ( with the church demolished in 1984 and rebuilt in 2003 ) and of the inn that bore his name ( 'Serban Voda Inn' ) and which occupied a large part of then Bucharest ( the National Bank was built in its place ). He is responsible for the Bucharest Bible, the first complete Romanian translation of the Bible, which appeared shortly after his death ( 1688 ). His wife, Lady Maria, founded the Lady's Church ( 'Biserica Doamnei' ) in Bucharest ( on Victory Road, but which gave its name to Lady's Street ). At his death, she fought for her son, Gheorghe, to be elected Lord, to no avail. The Austrian army ( led by General Heusler ) that attacked Wallachia in 1690 intended to put Gheorghe on the throne and the chief plotter in the affair was the boy's brother-in-law, Great Sheriff Constantin Balaceanu, leader of the pro-Habsburg internal faction. Later, Prince Gheorghe Cantacuzino became general in the Austrian army and was Great Ban of Craiova, which means that he served as governor of Oltenia under Austrian rule ( 1718-1735 ).

***The modern-era members of this family are descendants of two of Great Ban Gheorghe's descendants, namely brothers 1) Prince Constantin G. and 2) Prince Gheorghe G. Cantacuzino(-Rafoveanu).

***1) Prince Constantin G. Cantacuzino was the father of:
******- Prince Gheorghe ( 'Ghita', 'Gogu' ) C. Cantacuzino ( 1845-1898 ), important figure of the National Liberal Party, General Manager of the Romanian Railroads ( 1883-1888 ), chief editor of Vointa Nationala ( i.e. 'The National Will', 1888-1895 ), Finance Minister ( 1895-1898 ). He was owner of the Rafov estate. His house can still be found on Polish Street and across the road from it, in Icon's Garden, there is his bust. The square in front bears his name, as did some time ago Polish Street itself. One of his descendants, Prince Serban Constantin Cantacuzino ( see ), has managed to regain possession of the famous Manuk's Inn ( see outside and inside ), one of Bucharest's oldest civil buildings, of which he is rightful owner through a great-grandmother. A daughter of Prince Gheorghe, Princess Elena, married Ion ( Iancu ) D. Ghica, grandson of the famous Ion Ghica.
******- Prince Constantin C. Cantacuzino, physician, who owned a house still extant on C.A. Rosetti Street and married Sabina Bratianu, author of some famous memoirs and daughter of Ion C. Bratianu ( 1821-1891 ), one of Romania's most important statesmen ever. Their son, Prince Ioan C. Cantacuzino was also a physician.

***2) Prince Gheorghe G. Cantacuzino and Eliza Florescu ( sister of - among others - Luxita Florescu ) were founders of the so-called Corneanu sub-branch; they founded an asylum in Bucharest. Their children were Prince Alexandru ( General Director of the State Publishing Company and numismatist ), Prince Ioan, Prince Gheorghe ( married to Elena, daughter of politician Gheorghe Costa-Foru, see ) and Princess Ana, wife of dr. Nicolae Kalinderu, brother of Ioan Kalinderu, known as General Manager of the Crown Estates under King Carol I. Prince Ioan ( Iancu ), engineer, was one of the first Romanian industrialists, involved in the concrete business ( he might have owned the Fieni plant, but I'm not sure ). From a first marriage he had:
******- Prince Gheorghe Cantacuzino ( 'the Frontier Guardian' or colloquially 'Zizi'; see ) ( 1869-1937 ), who produced a big scandal in ca. 1898 when it was rumoured ( it's not known whether rightly or wrongly ) that he was having an affair with Princess ( later Queen ) Marie. Later on he became a general, famous for his bravery and martial drive. In the last years of his life he was associated with the Iron Guard. After being outlawed in 1933 ( for which Prime Minister I.G. Duca was assassinated ), the movement reorganized itself as the All-for-the-Fatherland Party in 1934, with Prince Gheorghe Cantacuzino as nominal leader. His family's house on Gutenberg Street, recently demolished, was a rallying place for Legionaries and the nearby St Elijah's Church on-the-Hill ( 'Sfantul Ilie-Gorgani' ) a sort of chapel of the movement. His funeral at the church in 1937 was a lavish display of Legionary propaganda. He was married to cousin Elena Kalinderu.
******From a second marriage, to Zoe Warthiadi, he had:
******- Princess Elisabeta ( 'Zetta' ), wife of Ioan G. Manu, daughter-in-law of statesman General Gheorghe Manu and mother of chemist and Iron Guard militant ( like his uncle and aunt ) George I. Manu. From her dowry, her husband built their house on Jianu Road ( nowadays Aviators' Avenue; see )
******- Prince Serban, who was known to be so haughty as to return any correspondence that didn't address him as 'Prince'.
******- Prince Ioan, known colloquially as 'Papanel', married to Alexandra Florescu; from an affair with the great actress Maria Filotti he had an illegitimate but acknowledged son, Ion I. Cantacuzino, psychiatrist, film historian and critic, host of a TV programme; the little square in front of St Elijah's Church on-the-Hill bears his name. This latter's sons from the marriage with his cousin Elena Warthiadi are:
*********- Mr. Gheorghe Cantacuzino ( see ), historian and archaeologist of the Middle Ages;
*********- Mr. Serban Cantacuzino ( see article ), actor, like his grandmother, who groomed him for this career.
******- Princess Ioana, from a third marriage to Maria Falcoianu, Lili Falcoianu's sister and niece of Zoe Warthiadi, the second wife; she too was an Iron Guard militant, assassinated by Police in 1939 in the same circumstances as Alexandru Cantacuzino ( see second paragraph, sixth child ).Married to Grigore Carp, son of the renowned Conservative statesman Petre P. Carp.