Ion Strat (1836–October 20, 1879) was a

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 ...

n, later

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 jurist and politician. Ioan Strat

Born in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, his secondary education took place under the auspices of a tutor from Heidelberg. Between 1855 and 1859, he studied law and public administration at the universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, obtaining a doctorate from the latter institution. Upon his return home, he became personal secretary to the

n interior minister,

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 1860, he was appointed professor of political economy at the newly founded

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

.Rosetti, p. 177 The first head of the political economy department at age 24, he soon became its first rector as well as its first law faculty dean. He served as rector until the following year and left Iași in 1862.Ioan Strat
at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University site He became a member of the state council established in 1864. He was part of three cabinets: Finance Minister under

Constantin Bosianu Constantin Bosianu (10 February 1815, Bucharest – 21 March 1882, Bucharest) was a Romanian jurist and politician, honorary member of the Romanian Academy, Prime Minister of Romania from 26 January to 14 June 1865. He was the first dean of th ...

(January–June 1865), Religious Affairs Minister under Ion Ghica (July 1866-February 1867) and again Finance Minister under Lascăr Catargiu (January–March 1876). He also worked as a diplomat in Paris and Constantinople. He served in several legislatures of the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania ( ro, Parlamentul României) is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies ( ro, Camera Deputaților) and the Senate ( ro, Senat). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bu ...

. Following Alexandru Ioan Cuza's coup in May 1864, he became

Senator 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 ...

;Nechita, Pohoață, p. 87 in April 1866, he was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

for Mihăileni; in

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

he was elected to what was now the Assembly of Deputies, for

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county ('' ro, județ'') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat is the historical town ...

; and he was again a senator at the time of his death. His principal work was ''Economia politică'' ("Political Economy", 1869), the country's first university-level treatise on the subject. He also wrote ''Un coup d'oeil sur le question roumaine'' ("A Look at the Romanian Question", 1858), ''De Italorum jure criminali'' ("On Italian Criminal Law", 1859) and ''Studii asupra bugetului'' ("Studies on the Budget", 1868). Strat was among those who helped set up institutions for the nascent Romanian state after the

Union of the Principalities The unification of Moldavia and Wallachia ( ro, Unirea Moldovei și Țării Românești), also known as the unification of the Romanian Principalities ( ro, Unirea Principatelor Române, link=no) or as the Little Union ( ro, Mica Unire, link=no) ...

in 1859. He helped cement political economy as a science, and trained students with a view toward modernizing the economy. He believed Romania would remain an agricultural country for the time being and saw no possibility of industrialization taking place, because the necessary conditions were not present. A committed supporter of free trade, he believed economic activity was governed by natural forces and should be free of all constraints, including state-imposed ones. This belief extended to opposing forced state-sponsored industrialization.Hitchins, p. 127

Notes

References

Keith Hitchins Keith Arnold Hitchins (April 2, 1931 – November 1, 2020) was an American historian and a professor of Eastern European history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in Romania and its history. He was born in Schenect ...

, ''A Concise History of Romania'', Cambridge University Press, 2014, *Vasile D. Nechita, Ion M. Pohoață, ''Din istoricul liberalismului economic în România: Ioan Strat, un deschizător de drumuri'', Editura Porto-Franco, 1993, *

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'', Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara", Bucharest, 1897 {{DEFAULTSORT:Strat, Ion 1836 births 1879 deaths People from Roman, Romania Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Romanian economists Romanian diplomats Romanian textbook writers Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Rectors of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Members of the Senate of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian Ministers of Culture Romanian Ministers of Finance