George Potra (March 16, 1907 – December 19, 1990) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian teacher and historian. He was one the founders of the historical study of Bucharest.
He was born in 1907 in Săcuieu, Cluj County, but in 1911 his family moved to Bucharest, capital of the Romanian Old Kingdom, where his father worked as a glazier. For completed his secondary studies at the Matei Basarab High School, where Constantin Noica and Barbu Brezianu were his schoolmates. He then studied at the University of Bucharest, having as teachers Nicolae Iorga, Constantin Moisil, Nicolae Cartojan, and Constantin C. Giurescu. He graduated in 1932 magna cum laude and obtained his Ph.D. in history four years later from the same university. From 1932 to 1967 he taught history at some of the best high schools in Bucharest, including Matei Basarab, Mihai Viteazu, and Aurel Vlaicu high schools, as well as the one in Găești.[1]
Potra was the father of the historian George G. Potra (1940–2015).[2] He died in Bucharest in 1990, at age 83.[1]
His main work is Din Bucureștii de ieri, in 2 volumes, published in March 1990 by Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică . Other historical works include: