[4] After graduating from the Oradea Academy in 1859, Pop de Băsești found a clerk's job, but shortly after he was conscripted in the Austrian Imperial Army and participated in the Second Italian War of Independence (1859–1860).

[1][2] According to a source, Maria Loșonți, the widow of the Baron Sebeși, had had with Pop de Băsești in 1859 another daughter out of wedlock, Ana, before they married one year later.

[1] Pop de Băsești's personality gained the respect of his political opponent Kálmán Tisza, who declared: "You're a fierce man, fanatical Daco-Romanian!

[1] In 1879, Pop de Băsești resigned from the Independence Party [hu] (where he held the position of vice president) after having lost the belief that Romanians' and Hungarians' interests could be reconciled.

[8] His resignation provided the occasion for Kálmán Tisza to attempt convincing Gheorghe Pop de Băsești to join his party: "We would need brave and determined men.

[4] At the 1887 national conference of the PNR the participants voiced their grievances in regard to the worsening situation of the ethnic Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary and decided to present the Emperor a petition encompassing the growing complaints against the consequences of the Ausgleich: the discrimination and the Magyarization process conducted against the ethnic Romanians, their underrepresentation in the Hungarian Parliament through the electoral laws despite their demographic majority in Transylvania and the way the Ausgleich was adopted, without consulting the Transylvanians.

[10] Consequently, on 7 May 1894, 14 leaders of the PNR, including Pop de Băsești, were put on trial in Kolozsvár for various charges, ranging from disturbing the peace to high treason.

[8][4] On 10 January 1905, Pop de Băsești summoned the national conference of the PNR in Nagyszeben, where it was decided to rescind the policy of political passivism and to engage again in the electoral process.

[8] When the World War I started, Pop de Băsești decided to write his testament and leave his whole wealth (estimated at around 4 million Kronen) to the Greek Catholic Metropolitan in Balázsfalva/Blaj.

[14] On 30 November 1918 Pop de Băsești, elected as a representative and accompanied by lieutenant Alexandru Kiș of the Romanian National Guard, set off by train to Alba Iulia, despite his old age.

[2][15] The trip was not without incident: in the Războieni railway station their railcar was fired upon by the Hungarian National Guard, killing Ioan Arion [ro].

[16][17] After he had arrived in Alba Iulia, on a blistering cold day, the monk Leon Manu asked him: "For the love of God, Brother George, how could you venture to make such a long and exhausting journey on such weather?

[15] After a long wait and repeated requests, Pop de Băsești and lieutenant Kiș were finally given an unheated room in the Hotel "Hungaria" (whose name was later changed to "Dacia").

[4] As a leading figure of the PNR he unified all the divergent currents in the Assembly and bridged the differences, his election as president ending all rivalries among the representatives.

[2] After closing the session of the High National Romanian Council, Pop de Băsești repeated the words attributed to Simeon: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace", adding "as I have seen the salvation of my people".