Basil Gh. Assan
Industrialist, engineer, explorer, merchant, inventor, Basile Gh. Assan (August 1, 1860 - June 16, 1918)1 was a captivating personality. He went down in history as the first Romanian to reach the North Pole and also the first Romanian to circumnavigate the world (1897-1898).2 Between 1890 and 1912 he published studies on: the revision of trade laws and conventions, Romania's customs tariffs, public lighting in Bucharest, the question of oils and exotic seeds, the introduction of the steam engine, the Romanian milling industry, which reveal his vast economic culture and his long experience in commercial and industrial affairs.
George and Basile Assan were the sons of Gheorghe Assan (1821-1866) and Alexandrina, born Ștefănescu. They also had a sister, Elisa, married to Colonel Negel3. The Assan brothers took over the management of the factories in 1884, when Basile was 24 and George was 22. The former had studied at the Polytechnic of Liège4, and the younger brother at the Higher Commercial School of Antwerp.5 On June 12, 1909, the co-ownership ceased with the dissolution of the company and the creation of the Société Anonyme Fabricele Assan6. George Assan ceded the ownership and the management of the factories to his brother, who had no rights, as he wished to become more involved in politics7.
George Assan was vice-president of the Romanian Automobile Club since its foundation in 1904. His 3½-horsepower Herzthal had the number 1-B, while Basile Assan had the number 2-B8. "Friends of progress", both brothers were "keen motorists"9, a passion passed on to George G. Assan and Basile B. Assan, their sons.
In Bucharest at the beginning of the 20th century there were two sumptuous residences of the Assan family, that of George Assan in Lahovary Square, built between 1904-1906, according to the plans of the architect Ioan Berindey10, by the contractor Robert Bammes11, and that of his elder brother, Basile Assan, built between 1905-190812, according to the plans of Marcel Kammerer, in Scaune Street (today's I. L. Caragiale). Villa Basile Assan in the Sezession style no longer exists today.
1. S. Dragomirescu, Basile Assan, Personități românești ale științelor naturii și tehnicii, dicționar, coord. Ioan Eremia Albescu, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1982, p. 34.
2. Basile Assan, Călătorie împrejurul pământului - conferință tenută în 6 (18) martie 1899, Buletinul Societății Geografice, Socec, Bucharest, 1899.
3. Act de fundație al casei George Assan din Piața Lahovary, June 27, 1904, Arhiva George Assan, A2610, Cabinetul de Manuscrise, Biblioteca Academiei Române.
4. S. Dragomirescu, Basile Assan, Personități românești ale științelor naturii și tehnicii, dicționar, coord. Ioan Eremia Albescu, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1982, p. 34.
5. Universul, year XXVII, no. 206, Thursday, July 30, 1909, p. 1.
6. Testamentul lui George Assan, Arhiva George Assan, A243, Cabinetul de Manuscrise, Biblioteca Academiei Române.
7. Act of Succession of George Assan's heirs, George Assan Archive, A2432, Cabinet of Manuscripts, Romanian Academy Library.
8. Anuarul Automobil-Club Regal Român, 1916, Tipografia Jockey-Club, Bucharest, 1916, p. 12.
9. Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry Bulletin, year XX, July-August, 1909, no. 7-8, p. 260.
10. Sidonia Teodorescu, "Reședințe bucureștene în stil Berindey", Arhitectura, nr. 4, 2011, p. 103. cf. AN-DMB, PMB Tehnic fund, file 30/1905, Construcțiunea casa lui G. Assan in Calea Dorobanților, no. 59.
11. Act of foundation of George Assan's house in Lahovary Square, June 27, 1904, Arhiva George Assan, A2610, Cabinetul de Manuscrise, Biblioteca Academiei Române.
12. AN-DMB, PMB Tehnic fund, file 177/1906, Construction of B.G. Assan's house in Scaune str., nos. 21 and 23, files 1-36.