Grigore Balș (d. 1895) was a

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

n-born

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

n politician. Born into an old

n '' boyar'' family, the son of a

logothete Logothete ( el, λογοθέτης, ''logothétēs'', pl. λογοθέται, ''logothétai''; Med. la, logotheta, pl. ''logothetae''; bg, логотет; it, logoteta; ro, logofăt; sr, логотет, ''logotet'') was an administrative title ...

, Balș was active in the movement for the Union of the Principalities. In 1858, he edited ''Constituționalul'' magazine at Iași, taking a pro-union line. He was part of the first Moldavian government following the achievement of this objective with the election of

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 Janua ...

as ''

domnitor ''Domnitor'' (Romanian pl. ''Domnitori'') was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince" in other languages and less often as "grand duke". Derived from the Romanian word "''domn''" ...

'' in early 1859, serving as Finance Minister under Vasile Sturdza from January to March that year. He was then Foreign Minister in the cabinet of

Manolache Costache Epureanu Manolache Costache Epureanu (1823–1880) was twice the Prime Minister of Romania both as a representative of the Conservative Party and of the National Liberal Party, more specifically for the first time in 1870 (20 April–14 December) and fo ...

from November 1859 to March 1860. After the political union of Moldavia with

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 s ...

, in January 1862, Balș was named to the first government encompassing all Romania. Within the cabinet of

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 ...

, he was Minister of Religious Affairs and Public Instruction for several days in January. He was then reshuffled to become

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, remaining until March. Following the advent of constitutional monarchy in 1866, he was elected deputy (1866) and senator (1867). He served as Assembly President from November 1869 to May 1870. In 1880, he signed the founding statute of the Conservative Party. Dinu C. Giurescu, ''Dicționar biografic de istorie a României'', p. 48. Bucharest: Editura Meronia, 2008.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bals, Grigore 1895 deaths Grigore Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians Romanian Ministers of Education Romanian Ministers of Finance Government ministers of the Principality of Moldavia Romanian magazine editors