Barbu Bellu (1825–1900) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

minister of culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

, and

minister of justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

, the most famous cemetery in Romania, sits on a plot of land donated by Barbu Bellu to the local administration. A member of the Bellu family, of Aromanian origin, he was born in Bucharest. He studied at home and then in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

around the year 1843. In 1850, he became a judge of the

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

courthouse and in 1852, the presiding judge of the same courthouse. He was a prosecutor at

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipality in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass. It is part of ...

in 1856 and starting 1859, a judge at the Romanian High Court of Justice. In 1862, Barbu Bellu was named the minister of culture, but he resigned in June after Prime Minister

Barbu Catargiu Barbu Catargiu (26 October 1807 – ) was a conservative Romanian politician and journalist. He was the first Prime Minister of Romania, in 1862, until he was assassinated on 20 June that year. He was a staunch defender of the great estates of t ...

, his cousin, was assassinated. In 1863, he was the Minister of Justice in the Kretzulescu cabinet for one month. He was a Member of Parliament, representing

Muscel County Muscel County is a former first-order administrative district of Romania. It was located in the southern central part of Greater Romania, in the northwestern part of the historic region of Muntenia. Its territory is now mostly part of Argeș Coun ...

in 1859, 1861, and 1864. In 1866, Austrian Emperor

Franz Josef Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

gave him the title of baron. After

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 Januar ...

abdicated, Barbu Bellu retired from public life. In the fall of 1889 he drove around Bucharest in a 4-seat, 4-hp

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

automobile that could reach a speed of ; it is said that he was the first one to drive a car in Romania. When he died in 1900, the newspapers wrote, ''Se stinse Baronul Bellu, cel cu automobelu'' ("Baron Bellu, the one with an automobellu, has died"). He was buried in the cemetery that bears his name.

Notes

References

*Dimitrie R. Rosetti (1897) ''Dicționarul contimporanilor'', Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara". {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellu, Barbu 1825 births 1900 deaths Nobility from Bucharest Romanian people of Aromanian descent Romanian Ministers of Culture Romanian Ministers of Justice Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian prosecutors 19th-century Romanian judges Burials at Bellu Cemetery