Ioan Sandu Sturdza or Ioniță Sandu Sturdza (1762 – 2 February 1842) was a ruler (hospodar) (
List of Moldavian rulers
This is a list of rulers of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when it united with Wallachia, the other Danubian Principality, to form the modern-day state of Ro ...
) of
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 ...
from 21 June 1822 to 5 May 1828.
Biography
Sturdza is considered the first indigenous ruler with the end of
Phanariote
Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots ( el, Φαναριώτες, ro, Fanarioți, tr, Fenerliler) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumeni ...
rule (as a move the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
undertook after seeing the political disadvantages of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
domination after the troubles in the
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
).
Immediately after the Greek revolution, Prince Ioan Sturdza took an active part in subduing the roving bands of
Eterists in
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 ...
; he transformed the
Greek language
Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...
elementary schools into
Romanian language
Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...
ones and laid the foundation for that scientific national development which Prince
Mihai Sturdza
Mihail Sturdza (24 April 1794, Iași – 8 May 1884, Paris), sometimes anglicized as Michael Stourdza, was prince of Moldavia from 1834 to 1849. He was cousin of Roxandra Sturdza and Alexandru Sturdza.
Biography
He was son of Grigore Sturdza, ...
continued after 1834, especially after his founding of an upper school in the Trei Ierarhi Cathedral complex 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 ...
. Although his project for the confiscation of some Church properties was initially blocked by Russia, Sturdza opted not to revise his position.
Opposed by the
boyars
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were sec ...
who had taken refuge in
Imperial Russia
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, 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 th ...
during
Ypsilanti's military rule, and threatened with the loss of his throne after the 1826 Russo-Turkish
Akkerman
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...
Convention that established a seven-year term in office for Princes elected by the
Sfatul boieresc (confirmed by the Ottomans, with Russia's approval), Sturdza agreed to many boyar demands, including
tax cut
A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions i ...
s and exemptions from
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
. However, he ensured
meritocratic
Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achieve ...
criteria in access to public offices. At the same time, a conflict became apparent between high- and low-ranking boyars, after the proposed
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
of
Ionică Tăutu Ionică Tăutu (usual rendition of Ion Tăutu; 1798–1828) was a Moldavian low-ranking boyar, Enlightenment-inspired pamphleteer, and craftsman ("an engineer by trade", according to Alecu Russo).Russo, VI
Constitutional project
The last in a ...
was rejected by most of the former (a vocal minority under the leadership of
Mihail Sturdza
Mihail Sturdza (24 April 1794, Iași – 8 May 1884, Paris), sometimes anglicized as Michael Stourdza, was prince of Moldavia from 1834 to 1849. He was cousin of Roxandra Sturdza and Alexandru Sturdza.
Biography
He was son of Grigore Sturdza, se ...
). In 1828, the Russians entered the country during the
Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29 and took Prince Ioan prisoner. He died while being kept in
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 ...
and was later buried in Iași.
Marriage and issue
He married Princess Ecaterina
Rossetti-Roznoveanu (1764-1847). They had:
*Prince Nicolae
* Princess Maria
Ghika-Comanesti (1805-1887), their daughter Princess
Pulcheria
Aelia Pulcheria (; grc-gre, Πουλχερία; 19 January 398 or 399 – July 453) was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother emperor Theodosius II during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to he ...
(1831-1874) became mother of
Queen Natalie of Serbia and grandmother of
King Alexander I of Serbia.
See also
*
Sturdza family
The House of Sturdza, Sturza or Stourdza is the name of an old Moldavian noble family, whose origins can be traced back to the 1540s and whose members played important political role in the history of Moldavia, Russia and later Romania.
Political ...
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturdza, Ioan
Rulers of Moldavia
Moldavian people of the Greek War of Independence
Ioan
Ioan is a variation on the name John found in Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Welsh (), and Sardinian. It is usually masculine. The female equivalent in Romanian and Bulgarian is Ioana. In Russia, the name Ioann is usually reserved for the clergy ...
Year of birth missing
Place of birth missing
Year of death missing
Place of death missing