Traian Nițescu

Traian Nițescu graduated in mining engineering from the Polytechnical Institute in Bucureşti in 1924. He worked in the petroleum industry for a subsidiary of Petrifina (Fina) for more than 20 years and became president of the Association of Engineers and Technicians in Industrial Mining and Petroleum in Romania.

In 1948, Nițescu was declared an enemy of the state by the new communist government. Together with his wife, he first went into hiding and then swam through the River Danube to Yugoslavia, where he was detained for some time, but eventually released due to pressure of Western countries. He arrived in Canada in 1950 and again joined Fina. As president and CEO of Canadian Fina, Nițescu guided the company to rapid growth and helped it become a major player in the Alberta oil industry, introducing a number of important technical novelties. When the company was bought up by Petro Canada in the late 1970s, Nițescu retired. He continued to support refugees from the former Eastern Block and acted as president of the Romanian Engineers Organization.

His friends Mircea Socolescu, Ion Gavăt and Toma Petre Ghițulescu, all geologists and geophysicists, were also members of the Romanian bob team at St. Moritz in 1928. This marked the first Romanian participation in the Olympic Winter Games.