Biography of Constantin Chirovici
Constantin Chirovici was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1898, son of Niculae Chirovici, who served in the military. Chirovici matriculated at the University in 1919, aged 21, to study for a degree in Naval Architecture under Sir John Harvard Biles. He attended classes in Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Naval Architecture with Marine Engineering. In spite of having completed the coursework for a BSc in 1922, Chirovici was unable to take the examinations as he had to return home due to the slump in the Romanian exchange rate.
In Romania, Chirovici worked as a Liaison Officer to the British Military Mission in Bucharest from 1944 until 1947, when he was tried by the Communists on suspicion of being a British Spy and condemned to 10 years of hard labor. During this time, all his belongings, papers and documents were confiscated.
After his sentence, Chirovici left for Canada on 5 December 1959, where he found employment with Power Corporation Designers and Consultants Limited, in Montreal. In 1962, he moved to C.D. Howe Company Limited; Clarence Decatur Howe became the Minster for Transport in Canada, and founder of Air Canada.
On 30 September 1962, Chirovici contacted the University asking for a record of the courses he had taken to permit him to enter further study and obtain membership to the Association of Professional Engineers, to which the University responded with a certifying letter on 6 September 1963.
Sources
Other Online Resources
Archival Materials
- R6/15 Abandoned and withdrawn student files
- R8/5/40/2 Matriculation Slips 1919-20 [Men] C-D
Summary
Constantin Chirovici
Born 1898.
GU Degree: Science and Engineering, 1919-1922;
University Link: Student
Occupation categories: engineers
English snippet: Constantin Chirovici, mechanical design engineer for C D Howe Limited, Canada Romanian, Moldavian, Moldovan snippet: Student la Glasgow University, spion britanic (în vizinunea comuniştilor din România), inginer mecanic pentru C.D. Howe Limited, Canada Record last updated: 29th Oct 2013
University Connections
University Roles
- Student