Gheorghe I. Lahovary (–) was a

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

n-born

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 engineer and writer. Born in Râmnicu Vâlcea, he studied 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 ...

. In 1855 he was sent by his parents to study in Germany. After attending the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

and

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, he enrolled in the Polytechnic School of

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, graduating with a degree in engineering. After returning home, he worked as a civil engineer. In 1871, when a Conservative government headed by Lascăr Catargiu took office, Lahovary was named general director of the Post and Telegraph Service. He played an important role in setting up this institution, introducing postcards, signing the first international postal and telegraph conventions of the modern Romanian state and representing his country at the first Postal Union Congress in 1874. Named an adviser at the

Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those in ...

in 1876, he rose to become its president in 1893. In 1895, Finance Minister Menelas Ghermani secured

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

passage of a law for the court's reorganization. In accordance with this law, Lahovary was obliged to retire in 1906, having reached the age of 68. Lahovary was secretary of the Romanian Geographic Society from 1875 to 1909 and coordinated publication of ''Marele Dicționar Geografic al României''. He was vice president and later president of the Society for the Education of the Romanian People. In 1901, he was elected an honorary member of the Romanian Academy. Despite serious health problems, he continued to be active in the cultural realm after retiring.Mirela-Luminița Murgescu, "Organizarea și primele faze de funcționare ale Înaltei Curți de Conturi (1864-1895)", in Bogdan Murgescu (ed.),
Istoria Curții de Conturi a României (1864- 2004)
', pp. 75-6. Bucharest: Curtea de Conturi a României, 2014,

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahovary, Gheorghe 1838 births 1909 deaths People from Râmnicu Vâlcea Karlsruhe Institute of Technology alumni Romanian engineers Postmasters Honorary members of the Romanian Academy Romanian geographers