Alexandru Athanasiu (; born 1 January 1955) is a Romanian politician and jurist. A former leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR), he has been a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(PSD) since 2001. Athanasiu previously served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

on an

ad interim }. Name of episode 1 in season 3 of '' Berlin Station''. , - , ''aut cum scuto aut in scuto'', , either with shield or on shield, , Or, "do or die" or "no retreat". A Greek expression («Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς») that Spartan mothers sa ...

basis for 9 days between 13 December and 22 December 1999, heading the

Romanian Democratic Convention The Romanian Democratic Convention ( ro, Convenţia Democrată Română or Convenția Democratică Română; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-Communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties i ...

(CDR) cabinet after the resignation of

Radu Vasile Radu Vasile (; 10 October 1942 – 3 July 2013) was a Romanian politician, historian, and poet. Originally a member of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD), Vasile served as the Prime Minister of Romania between 17 April 1 ...

( PNȚCD. On 1 January 2007, with the

accession of Romania to the European Union On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became member states of the European Union (EU) in the fifth wave of EU enlargement. Negotiations Romania was the first country of post-communist Europe to have official relations with the European Comm ...

, Athanasiu became a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

for the PSD (inside the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

). An author of several scientific works, he is the recipient of a PhD in Law, as well as a professor at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

(since 1999). In 1995, his volume ''Legea Asigurărilor Sociale'' ("The Law on

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

") received the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

's ''

Simion Bărnuțiu Simion Bărnuțiu (; 21 July 1808 – 28 May 1864) was a Transylvanian, later Romanian historian, academic, philosopher, jurist, and liberal politician. A leader of the 1848 revolutionary movement of Transylvanian Romanians, he represented its ...

Award''.

Biography

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Athanasiu studied at the Gheorghe Lazăr High School in Bucharest, and later graduated from the law school at the Bucharest University. Between 1978 and 1982, he was employed by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. Having joined the newly created PSDR after the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

, Athanasiu was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

in 1992, being nominated to the Committee for Labor and Social Protection. A

Minister of Labor Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

in the

Victor Ciorbea Victor Ciorbea (; born on 26 October 1954) is a Romanian jurist, politician, and civil/public servant. He was the Mayor of Bucharest between 1996 and 1997 and, after his resignation from this public dignity/position, Prime Minister of Romania fr ...

CDR cabinet, he retained the office under Radu Vasile and his own premiership, being replaced by Smaranda Dobrescu during the leadership of

Mugur Isărescu Constantin Mugur Isărescu (; born 1 August 1949) is the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, a position he has been holding since September 1990, with the sole exception of a period of time of eleven months (16 November 1999 to 28 October 2 ...

. In 1999, he replaced

Sergiu Cunescu Sergiu Cunescu (March 16, 1923—March 16, 2005) was a Romanian social democratic politician, the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR) between 1990 and 2001. Biography Born in Bucharest, he graduated from the Electromagn ...

at the head of the PSDR, leading it into fusion with

Adrian Năstase Adrian Năstase (; born 22 June 1950) is a Romanian jurist, academic/professor, blogger, and former politician who served as the Prime Minister of Romania from October 2000 to December 2004. He competed in the 2004 presidential election as th ...

's Party of Social Democracy, PDSR (the fusion led to the creation of the PSD). In 2000, he was elected to the

Romanian Senate ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list ...

on PSDR lists, representing

Bihor County Bihor County () is a county ( județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea. Toponymy The origin of ...

(re-elected in 2004 on PSD lists); he stood on the Committee for Foreign Policies. In 2003–2004, Athanasiu also served as Minister of Education in the Adrian Năstase executive (replacing Ecaterina Andronescu). Athanasiu is married with two children.

References

Biography at the Romanian Senate

Biography at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies

External links

European Parliament profileEuropean Parliament official photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasiu, Alexandru 1955 births Living people Romanian Social Democratic Party (1990–2001) politicians Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians Politicians from Bucharest Prime Ministers of Romania Romanian Ministers of Education Romanian jurists Members of the Senate of Romania University of Bucharest alumni University of Bucharest faculty Gheorghe Lazăr National College (Bucharest) alumni Social Democratic Party (Romania) MEPs MEPs for Romania 2007