Philosopher Nae Ionescu was one of the most courted and charismatic men in interwar Bucharest. His romantic history reads like a who's who of the city’s elite, including figures such as Princess Măruca Cantacuzino, the wife of composer George Enescu, and the renowned pianist Cella Delavrancea. Despite his reputation as a seducer, Ionescu was married to Elena Margareta Fotino, an unhappy wife whom he ultimately abandoned, yet she never ceased to love him.

Nae Ionescu: the charm and scandal of interwar Bucharest

Ionescu’s magnetic personality extended into academia. He was the favorite of female students when he taught at the University, filling lecture halls to capacity as young women hung on his every word. 

In the high society circles of interwar Bucharest, he was considered a true Don Juan: single young women, married ladies, celebrated personalities, and lesser-known beauties all fell under his spell. Yet at the height of his allure, he remained legally married to Elena-Margareta Fotino, whose life was shadowed by his extramarital affairs.

The early life and marriage of Nae and Elena Ionescu

Elena Margareta Fotino and Nae Ionescu met in 1911 while they were students. She studied at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy while also attending courses at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Ionescu, then an obscure student, aspired to a scholarship in Germany while struggling with financial difficulties.

Upon graduating in 1912, Ionescu received a doctoral scholarship to Göttingen. During his year abroad, the couple corresponded, evolving from friendship into romance. Upon returning to Romania to complete his military service, their relationship moved toward marriage. They wed in Bucharest in 1915. 

When Ionescu returned to Germany to continue his studies, he took Elena with him. They remained abroad for three years, separated for one year during which Ionescu was a prisoner of war at Celle-Schloss camp.

Elena bore him two children: Radu, born in early 1917 while Ionescu was in captivity, and Răzvan, born the following year. By 1919, just four years into their marriage, Elena considered herself an unhappy wife. Her diary entries from their time in Germany reveal the confessions of a spouse who felt like the “companion animal” of her husband.

In 1930, Nae and Elena separated without divorcing, remaining apart until the end of Ionescu’s life. Yet Elena continued to love him. In 1937, seven years after their separation, she expressed her enduring feelings in her journal:

"I love him, I love him with an immense love, I love him with a deep yet sweet pain. This feeling makes life bearable; from him comes an inexplicable light, a light that warms me. And yet I tell everyone I do not love him. My words are my only shield. When I say: 'I do not love him and I have never truly loved him; I was too young when fate placed him in my path to know if I loved or not,' and I see that others believe this, I almost believe it myself. But the truth is only mine; my love for him is only mine. No one knows it, no one suspects it. This is the only thing that belongs solely to me. It is an illusion, a story, an unreality, but it is mine and only mine."

Affairs, aristocracy, and scandal

Despite being married to Elena, Ionescu had a passionate affair with Princess Maruca Cantacuzino. Măruca, the widow of Mihai Cantacuzino and former lover of Enescu, became infatuated with the younger philosopher, who was thirteen years her junior and already married with two children. 

Their relationship lasted nearly seven years, during which Măruca hoped Ionescu would divorce and marry her. When he ended the relationship, Măruca attempted suicide, setting herself on fire and self-harming. She was saved and later married the composer George Enescu.

Following the end of Măruca’s affair, Ionescu began a relationship with a younger woman, Lucia Popovici-Lupa. Their affair lasted five years, from 1933 to 1938. Ionescu was not discreet with Lucia; he introduced her to society and spent vacations with her, making her a familiar figure in his circle.

Cella Delavrancea: the great love of his life

Perhaps the most significant love of Nae Ionescu’s life was the pianist Cella Delavrancea. She had been married three times: first to Viorel Virgil Tilea, then to Aristide Blank, and finally to Philippe Lahovary. Her relationship with Ionescu began during her third marriage, though they had met while she was still married to Aristide Blank.

When Ionescu was imprisoned in Miercurea Ciuc, Cella sent him parcels and letters. Upon his release in 1939, she became a constant presence in his Băneasa villa, caring for him after his first heart attack. She remained by his side until his death, tending to him through his final hours. Nae Ionescu passed away on 15 March 1940 from a second, fatal heart attack. In a letter to a friend, Cella recalled that she was the one who closed his eyes.

Due to Ionescu’s estranged wife, Elena Margareta Fotino, Cella Delavrancea was absent from his funeral. Elena wrote in her journal after his death:

"Nae has died. He has died, he has died… Is it possible? I am completely stunned! How can I understand such a thing? Nae dead, Nae in the earth? He, who was all spirit, all intelligence, all brilliance? Is it possible, Lord, is it possible? With him collapses all that he built with his talent for the past twenty years. He wrote almost nothing, and nothing remains for the future; yet he was a man whose spirit had an overwhelming effect on the entire country. Nae, Nae, how is it possible that you are no longer? Will I never speak with you again? Will I never see you again? Never, never. You to die and I to remain here? No, Nae, no. Today it is not you who died, it is I. My youth, my entire life dies today. All my illusions and dreams died today because I have lived only for you and for our children. What will they do without you? Both are destroyed by grief."

The enduring legacy of Nae Ionescu

Nae Ionescu’s life reflects the heady mix of intellect, charm, and scandal in interwar Bucharest. His personal relationships—spanning wives, lovers, and muses—were intertwined with his public persona as a philosopher and lecturer. While some relationships ended in heartbreak or tragedy, others, like that with Cella Delavrancea, endured until the end of his life.

Even after decades, Ionescu remains a figure of fascination: a man whose intellect, allure, and romantic escapades left a mark on the city’s society. The duality of his life—scholarly achievements paired with a relentless pursuit of passion—creates a portrait of a true Don Juan, whose personal and public lives were inseparable, and whose presence continues to intrigue historians, biographers, and admirers alike.

Nae Ionescu’s story reminds us that even in the midst of intellectual brilliance, human desire and vulnerability shape the legacies left behind. In the salons and lecture halls of interwar Bucharest, he was both admired and envied, loved and resented, a figure whose legend surpasses the confines of history and resonates in the annals of the city’s social life.

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