Himself educated in Greek, Golescu was a native boyar, and, like his sons, tended to side with the early manifestations of Romanian nationalism; he was especially prone to economic nationalism—though he alternated this commitment with episodes of participation in Phanariote spoliation, and was vilified as such by Wallachia's taxpayers.

Golescu's rise began in the early 1780s, when he took over as Spatharios, also overseeing work on the Old Princely Cort of Târgoviște; he remained associated with Dâmbovița County, especially as its Ispravnic (sheriff), in which capacity he served until being deposed by the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787.

Chased out of the country in 1802, when parts of Wallachia were sacked by Pazvantoğlu, he spent some years in relative isolation, including after his return; his sons also took up politics, climbing into the middle and higher reaches of administrative boyardom.

[8] Nicolae's father, Ilie, had joined Leurdeanu Golescu in his political endeavors and his eventual exile to Oltenia; at the time of Radu Jr birth, the latter region had been retaken by Wallachia, now under a Phanariote regime.

One version of their succession is provided by literary historian Mircea Anghelescu: the eldest son, Nicolae, was born in 1772 or 1773, while Gheorghe "Iordache" followed in 1774 or 1775, with their more famous brother, Constandin "Dinicu", being the only one whose full date of birth is recorded (7 February 1777).

[12] Historian Vasile Novac indicates sources which identify Iordache's birth year as 1768 or 1770, making him the oldest; he also notes that Radu's one daughter, Ana, became the wife of a Great Ban, Mihalache Racoviță.

[17] An inscription in the princely church, dated August 1785, credits him as a Great Paharnic (a title he no longer held in January 1786, as shown by his deed to the estate of Fundeni, purchased from Neculae Cocoș).

[18] Notes left by Târgoviște burgher Dumitrache al Popii Gheorghe suggest that Golescu was detained by the Ottoman Army, which put an end to his tenure ("I never saw him again").

Historian Gabriela Nițulescu believes that this refers to the Russo-Turkish War of 1787, when Târgoviște was under an Ottoman military administration, and that the events most likely took place in January or February 1788; she notes that, in March, the new Ispravnici were Greceanu and Ioniță Caramanlău.

"[20] Much of his life was spent on accumulating a personal wealth; in his last will, dated to February 1815, he notes: n-am prăpădit [averi], ci încă om adăugat, încât pociu zice că le-am îndoit ("never have I squandered [properties], but have only added to them, so much so that one could say I've doubled them").

[23] Radu was a major producer of honey, beeswax, hay, and maize, which he sold abroad through a Transylvanian merchant, Constantin Hagi Pop; an employer of skilled immigrant workers, he opened up a number of shops, and an inn, on Bucharest's Podul Calicilor.

[29] Shortly after, the bubonic plague erupted in Wallachia, with Mourouzis heading the relief and containment effort—in April 1795, Golescu was personally instructed to disinfect parts of Bucharest.

[31] By January 1796, Golescu had been made Great Vornic of "the Lower Land", in which capacity he collected and distributed funds resulting from the auctioning of other boyar ranks and titles.

[32] In July 1796, during the final stages of Mourouzis' reign, Golescu, alongside members of the Divan such as Ienăchiță Văcărescu and Nicolae Filipescu, called for a relaxation of fiscal pressures.

Specifically, he supported bringing in traders as advisers in the Army Supply Department (Departamentul Epitropiei Obștirilor), also urging Hangerli to curb imports and prop up local factories.

A consular report by the Habsburg diplomat Joseph Hammer suggests that Golescu was called upon by Hangerli, who appointed him Serasker, to assist a token Wallachian expeditionary force, which supported the Ottoman Empire against the rebels.

[46] In 1799, with Mourouzis returning on the throne, Golescu proceeded to address matters of internal trade by establishing a glassmaking factory at Șotânga in Dâmbovița, initially staffed by Transylvanian Saxons who "live[d] in his houses".

Golescu remained in place, as the third-oldest member of the administrative Divan, and cooperated with the new regime: he and Barbu Văcărescu, together with Ivan Meshchersky, formed an investigative triumvirate which looked into abuse by Ypsilantis' Muntenian Ispravnici.

[56] In January 1809, alongside other boyars, he signed a letter of recommendation for the Dragoman and merchant Manuc Bei, describing him as an "honest patriot" who had lent money to the Wallachian state.

[57] In August 1811, alongside Isaac Ralet and Mihalache Manu, he petitioned General Steter, who commanded upon the Russian troops in Wallachia, to clamp down on the Bulgarians and Serbs of Lichirești in southern Muntenia; these communities had refused to pay government taxes, viewing themselves as under Russia's protection.

[59] His own good faith was questioned in Russian sources, with one anonymous report, preserved by the Governing Senate archives, calling him "very astute when it comes to business, but immeasurably thirsty for wealth, and mean-spirited.

On 17 October, just as the last Russian troops were leaving Bucharest, Georgios Argyropoulous took over as Caradja's regent (or Caimacam), assigning leading positions in the Divan to Golescu, Grigore D. Ghica, and Constantin Bălăceanu.

[65] As noted by literary historian Mircea Iorgulescu, Dinicu and Iordache were in fact part of the opposition, a "Golescu party" whereby "the Wallachian boyars, having been turned from soldiers into courtiers," used their influence to undermine Caradja.

[50] Before his replacement with Isaac Ralet, he gave a minor regional appointment in Oltenia to the young soldier Tudor Vladimirescu, who would later play a major part in the anti-Phanariote struggles.

[43] As reported in letters by Manuc Bei, who was by the Caradja's exiled enemy, this was a time of great corruption and spoliation, to which Golescu acquiesced, having himself paid 600 thaler in bribes for promotion to the office of Vistier.

Competed in 1815, it was the Wallachian example of cast-iron architecture, and had uniquely large rooms; according to an anecdote relayed by Ulysse de Marsillac, Ban Radu was struck by the ambitious project, pointing out to Dinicu that there was no way to ensure its indoor lighting (to which Golescu Jr replied: "Father, I am building for the future").

[84] He was additionally a co-ktitor at Țigănești Monastery in 1812 (alongside Iordache Florescu and Anica Soutzos-Florescu),[85] as well as a benefactor of Arnota Monastery—commissioning in 1817 its silver reliquary, which contains the hand of Margaret the Virgin.

[89] Reappointed Great Ban for a while in 1818 (with Grigore Romaniti as the Caimacam),[72] Golescu died on 8 October of that year; the date is remembered for being shortly before Caradja's hurried, and permanent, departure from Wallachia.

[102] The Ban's legal quarrels over the emerald ring are also mentioned, and used as a plot device, in Nicolae Filimon's Ciocoii vechi și noi ("Upstarts Old and New"), which is one of the first Romanian novels.

[104] Arăpilă's elder brother, Dimitrie, was apolitical, and published one work of philosophy; he spent his life in Spa, where he had a son, Georges de Golesco, from his marriage to Joséphine Body.