Constantine Demetrius Mourouzis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Δημήτριος Μουρούζης, Konstantinos Demetrios Mourouzis, ro, Constantin Dimitrie Moruzi), (1730 – 1 May 1787) was a

Phanariote Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots ( el, Φαναριώτες, ro, Fanarioți, tr, Fenerliler) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumeni ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

, and member of the

Mourousis family The House of Mourouzis ( el, Μουρούζης) or Moruzi (russian: Мурузи, Muruzi) is the name of an old and distinguished noble family which was first mentioned in the Empire of Trebizond, whose members later occupied many important ...

. A remarkable polyglot, he spoke five languages:

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, French,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. In 1761, he became Grand ''

Postelnic ''Postelnic'' (, plural: ''postelnici,'' from the Slavic ''postel'', "bed"; cf. Russian '' postelnichy'') was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of ''chamberlain''. It ...

'' (foreign minister) in Moldavia, and soon after

Dragoman of the Fleet The Dragoman of the Fleet ( Ottoman Turkish: , 'Dragoman of the Arsenal'; el, δραγουμάνος του στόλου) was a senior office in the Ottoman Empire, held by Phanariote Greeks during the 18th and early 19th centuries. As the chief ...

(deputy minister) of the Ottoman

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

, and eventually

Grand Dragoman The Dragoman of the Sublime Porte ( Ottoman Turkish: ; el, �έγαςδιερμηνέας της Υψηλής Πύλης), Dragoman of the Imperial Council (''tercümân-ı dîvân-ı hümâyûn''), or simply Grand or Chief Dragoman (''tercümân ...

. There are indications that he was politically involved in the dismissal and assassination of his predecessor,

Grigore III Ghica Grigore III Ghica (1724 – 12 October 1777) was twice the Prince of Moldavia between 29 March 1764 – 3 February 1767 and September 1774 – 10 October 1777 and of Wallachia: 28 October 1768 – November 1769. Biography He was the son of Alex ...

, by the

Porte Porte may refer to: *Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire *Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy *John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator *Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who competes ...

.Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (eds.) (2007) "Moruzi. Constantin" ''Historical Dictionary of Moldova'' (2nd ed.) Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, USA, p. 250, Trusted by the Porte, he obtained the throne of Moldavia on October 12, 1770. Mourouzis spent much of his time in Iaşi, supervising the gathering of agricultural resources demanded by the Porte, but also fought extravagant luxury and surrounded himself with scholars, paying particular attention to schools and founding scholarships. He was deposed on June 7, 1782 and exiled to the island of

Tenedos Tenedos (, ''Tenedhos'', ), or Bozcaada in Turkish language, Turkish, is an island of Turkey in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively, the island constitutes the Bozcaada, Çanakkale, Bozcaada district of Çanakkale Provinc ...

. He returned in 1783, but died soon after.

Notes

1783 deaths Dragomans of the Porte

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

Rulers of Moldavia Postelnici of Moldavia Year of birth unknown Dragomans of the Fleet 1730 births 18th-century translators Constantinopolitan Greeks Diplomats from Istanbul {{Romania-bio-stub