Emil Costinescu (March 12, 1844–July 6, 1921) 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 economist, businessman and politician. Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, Costinescu was the self-taught son of the architect and engineer , professor at the

Academia Mihăileană Academia Mihăileană was an institution of higher learning based in Iași, Moldavia, and active in the first part of the 19th century. Like other Eastern European institutions of its kind, it was both a high school and a higher learning institut ...

and later the director of the School of Bridges and Roads, Mines and Architecture 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 ...

. He was influenced by the reformist ideals of the time in which he was growing up, as expounded by figures such as C. A. Rosetti,

Cezar Bolliac Cezar Bolliac or Boliac, Boliak (March 23, 1813 – February 25, 1881) was a Wallachian and Romanian radical political figure, amateur archaeologist, journalist and Romantic poet. Life Early life Born in Bucharest as the son of Anton Bogliak ...

and

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on October 11, 1863, ...

. In 1862, he was hired as proofreader at Rosetti's ''

Românul ''Românul'' (, meaning "The Romanian"; originally spelled ''Romanulu'' or ''Românulŭ'', also known as ''Romînul'', ''Concordia'', ''Libertatea'' and ''Consciinti'a Nationala''), was a political and literary newspaper published in Bucharest, Ro ...

''. He advanced to editor in 1866 and led the newspaper during the founder's exile. A member of the National Liberal Party,Wojciech Roszkowski and Jan Kofman, ''Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 1925-26. Abingdon-on-Thames: Taylor & Francis, 2016, he was first elected to 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 ...

in 1876, and in 1880 was a co-founder of the

National Bank of Romania The National Bank of Romania ( ro, Banca Națională a României, BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of Bucharest. The National Bank of Romania is responsible ...

.Ionel Maftei, ''Personalități ieșene'', vol. II, pp. 97-8. Iași: Comitetul de cultură și educație socialistă al județului Iași, 1972 In 1897, he became founding president of the General Bank of Bucharest, one of the country's largest.

Dimitrie Rosetti Dimitrie is the Romanian form of a Slavic given name. Notable persons with that name include: ;First name * Dimitrie Alexandresco (1850–1925), Romanian encyclopedist * Dimitrie Anghel (1872–1914), Romanian poet * Dimitri Atanasescu (1836–1907 ...

, ''Dicționarul Contimporanilor'', p. 57. Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara", Bucharest, 1897 He opened a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after t ...

, and sat on the board of a petroleum company. Costinescu was Finance Minister three times: July 1902-December 1904, March 1907-December 1910 and January 1914-December 1916.Sabina Cantacuzino (ed. Elisabeta Simion), ''Din viața familiei Ion C. Brătianu'', vol. II, p. 314. Bucharest: Editura Albatros, 1996 An economic protectionist, he supported a customs tariff in the belief that it would spur the development of domestic industry. Introduced in 1904, this measure lasted until 1924. Also, as early as 1887, he spoke in favor of an income tax. In late 1909, he introduced a bill in parliament that would have established such a tax; the proposal failed. At the end of his third term, in the midst of World War I, he was involved in the decision to send the

Romanian Treasure The Romanian Treasure ( ro, Tezaurul României) is a collection of valuable objects and the gold reserves (~120 tonnes) of the Romanian government sent to Russia for safekeeping during World War I. After the Romanian Army entered Bessarabia, at ...

to Russia for safekeeping. Costinescu remained in the wartime government as Minister without portfolio from December 1916 to July 1917. After the war, he took part in the Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference as a financial expert. The

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

resort of

Costinești Costinești is a commune and resort in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania, located on the shore of the Black Sea, about south of the county seat, Constanța. It consists of two villages: Costinești and Schitu. Etymology Costinești ...

is named after Costinescu, who purchased a 200-hectare estate from Vasile Kogălniceanu. He found an arid, treeless landscape, inviting German colonists to settle and work the land.Gheorghe Andronic, ''Litoralul românesc al Mării Negre'', p. 88. Bucharest: Editura Sport-Turism, 1989

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costinescu, Emil 1844 births 1921 deaths People from Iași Romanian newspaper editors Romanian bankers Romanian businesspeople in timber National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian Ministers of Finance