Dem I. Dobrescu

Who was Dem I. Dobrescu?

Dem I. Dobrescu was a Romanian left-wing politician who served as Mayor of Bucharest between February 1929 and January 1934.

Born in Jilava, he trained as a lawyer and joined the Bucharest bar. Alongside N. D. Cocea and others, he also defended Communist Party members during the 1922 Dealul Spirii Trial. In 1923, Dobrescu was part of the defense for Constantin Titel Petrescu, leader of the Federation of Romanian Socialist Parties, during a trial he faced for alleged insults addressed to the Romanian Army; Petrescu was eventually acquitted. Earlier in the year, Dobrescu had joined Petrescu's Liga Drepturilor Omului, which voiced protests against measures taken by the National Liberal cabinet of Ion I. C. Brătianu; the League also included Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, Constantin Mille, Victor Eftimiu, Nicolae L. Lupu, Constantin Costa-Foru, Grigore Iunian, Radu Rosetti, and Virgil Madgearu.

Dobrescu ran in elections for the mayor's office as a candidate for the National Peasants' Party. After winning, he declared the purpose of the office to be "not just administrative in character, but also social".