Daniel Ciugureanu (; 9 December 1885 – 19 May 1950) 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 ...

n politician from Bessarabia, deputy in

Sfatul Țării ''Sfatul Țării'' ("Council of the Country"; ) was a council that united political, public, cultural, and professional organizations in the greater part of the territory of the Governorate of Bessarabia in the disintegrating Russian Empire, w ...

from

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

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 ...

of the

Moldavian Democratic Republic The Moldavian Democratic Republic (MDR; ro, Republica Democratică Moldovenească, ), also known as the Moldavian Republic, was a state proclaimed on by the ''Sfatul Țării'' (National Council) of Bessarabia, elected in October–Novembe ...

from –, Minister for Bessarabia in four Romanian Governments, Deputy and Senator, Vice-President of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, Vice-President and President of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

. He was born in 1885 in Șirăuți,

Khotinsky Uyezd Khotinsky Uyezd (''Хотинский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Khotyn (''Khotin''). Demog ...

, in the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, the son of Alexandru Ciugureanu, a priest, and his wife, Ecaterina, a teacher. After attending secondary school in

Bălți Bălți (; russian: Бельцы, , uk, Бєльці, , yi, בעלץ ) is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city is one of the five Moldovan municipalit ...

and the theological seminary in Chișinău, he enrolled in 1905 at the Kiev Imperial University of Saint Vladimir, graduating from medical school in 1912. Ciugureanu was one of the founders and leaders of the

National Moldavian Party The National Moldavian Party was a political party in Bessarabia. History Prior to 1917, Bessarabian intelligentsia was divided between noblemen, conservatives, democrats, and socialists. Vasile Stroescu, a rich but very modest filantrop bo ...

and one of the promoters of the

Union of Bessarabia with Romania The union of Bessarabia with Romania was proclaimed on by Sfatul Țării, the legislative body of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. This state had the same borders of the region of Bessarabia, which was annexed by the Russian Empire following t ...

. On , the

voted unanimously to proclaim the independence of the

. The Board of Directors became the Council of Ministers, and Ciugureanu was elected Prime Minister of the new republic. In fact, it was a reconfirmation of the function in the light of the fact that he was elected First Director on . After the

he served as minister for

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

in four Romanian governments from 9 April 1918 to 30 November 1919. Ciugureanu was arrested on 5 May 1950 by the communist authorities of Romania. While being transported in a van, he had a stroke at

Turda Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europe ...

. According to some sources, he died at a nearby hospital the next day; according to official records of the

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

, he died several days later at

Sighet Prison The Sighet prison, located in the city of Sighetu Marmației, Maramureș County, Romania, was used by Romania to hold criminals, prisoners of war, and political prisoners. It is now the site of the Sighet Memorial Museum, part of the Memorial ...

. He was buried at the , in a common grave. As his grave is not known, in 1993 a cross was installed at the Sighet Cemetery, while his son, Gheorghe Ciugureanu, had a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

erected at the cemetery next to , near Bucharest.

References

External links

Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance The Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance ( ro, Memorialul Victimelor Comunismului și al Rezistenței) in Romania consists of the Sighet Museum (often confused with the Memorial), located in the city of Sighetu Marmației, Mara ...

1885 births 1950 deaths People from Briceni District People from Khotinsky Uyezd Romanian people of Moldovan descent Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Moldovan physicians 20th-century Romanian physicians Moldovan independence activists Socialist Revolutionary Party politicians Moldovan MPs 1917–1918 Prime Ministers of Moldova Members of the Romanian Cabinet Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Grand Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the National Order of Faithful Service Inmates of Sighet prison Prisoners who died in Securitate custody Romanian people who died in prison custody Burials at Cernica Monastery Cemetery {{Moldova-politician-stub

See also

References

External links