Matei-Agathon Dan (born September 17, 1949) is a
Romanian economist and politician. A member of the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(PSD), he was a member of the
Romanian Chamber of Deputies for
Bacău County from 1992 to 2004. In the
Nicolae Văcăroiu cabinet, he was
Tourism Minister The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture.
The position exists in many different countries under several names:
*Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania)
* Minist ...
from 1992 to 1996, and again held that office in the
Adrian Năstase cabinet from December 2000 to June 2003, when responsibility for Tourism was assigned to
Miron Mitrea.
He and his wife Otilia, whom he married in 1971, have one son, Tudor.
[Despina Ponomarenco]
"Count on Count Dracula"
''Bucharest Business Week'', 17 December 2001; retrieved March 2, 2009
Biography
Born in
Bucharest, Dan studied Finance and Accounting at the
Academy of Economic Studies
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies ( ro, Academia de Studii Economice din București, abbreviated ''ASE'') is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the ''Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies'' ...
, graduating in 1971. Before the
1989 Revolution
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
, he was economic director at the Institute for Research and Technological Engineering, Planning and Production of Non-ferrous and Rare Metals in Bucharest. After the fall of Communism, he was one of the founders of the PDSR (PSD from 2001), as well as a member of its National Council. In 1991–92 he served as sub-secretary of state, dealing with government relations with trade unions and management.
[Profile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site]
retrieved March 2, 2009 Also in 1991, he won a scholarship in macroeconomics in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, allowing him to see first-hand how a free-market economy works, including using an
ATM for the first time.
During his first stint as Tourism Minister (1992–1996), Dan was also vice president of the
World Tourism Organization's general assembly. He was a member of the Chamber's Foreign Policy Committee, and active in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
His second time in government (2000–2003), when he was appointed by his high-school classmate and friend Adrian Năstase, Dan drew attention for strongly promoting a
Disneyland-style theme park, "Dracula Park", which ultimately was not built.
He also worked on promoting skiing in the
Carpathians,
Danube cruises, the
Romanian wine country, countryside vacations and
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
. In January 2009, Dan suspended himself from the PSD in order to become secretary general and president of the Employer Confederation of Romanian Industry.
"Dan Matei Agathon s-a autosuspendat din PSD" ("Dan Matei Agathon Has Suspended Himself from the PSD")
''Ziua'', 16 January 2009; retrieved March 2, 2009
Notes
External links
Personal blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Matei-Agathon
Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania)
Romanian Ministers of Regional Development
Politicians from Bucharest
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni
1949 births
Living people