Mihail C. Vlădescu (25 April 1865 – 1944) was a Romanian botanist and politician. Born in

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , german: Langenau, Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian)), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'', is a municipality in the Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is situated among t ...

, his parents Constantin and Bălașa were intellectuals. After being educated by private tutors, he went to Paris for his high school degree before enrolling in the natural sciences faculty at the University of Paris in 1885. After a period of specialization at the University of Würzburg, he obtained a doctorate of science from the Sorbonne in 1889. His thesis dealt with stem development in '' Selaginella'' species and was supervised by Gaston Bonnier. He married Maria Anastasescu in 1897. In 1888, he was named professor of botany at

Iași University 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 Mi ...

, where he took over a course temporarily taught by

Nicolae Leon Nicolae Leon (April 15, 1862–October 4, 1931) was a Romanian biologist. He was the elder half brother of the naturalist Grigore Antipa. Leon was born in Băiceni, a village in Curtești commune in Botoșani County. Starting in 1881 he studied ...

. In 1890, he held a lecture at the university in which he advocated for evolutionist ideas and defended Darwinism. His students included

Sava Athanasiu Sava Athanasiu (28 April 1861 – 8 April 1946) was a Romanian geologist and paleontologist. Born in Ruginești, Vrancea County, he completed a private high school in Iași, where he was attracted to the natural sciences by his teacher Grigore C ...

, Ioan Gh. Botez,

Dimitrie Călugăreanu Dimitrie Călugăreanu ()–December 17, 1937) was a Romanian physician, naturalist and physiologist. Călugăreanu was born in Pomârla, Botoșani County; his parents were the possibly illiterate peasants Constantin and Glicheria. After obt ...

, Constantin Motaș and

Ion Th. Simionescu Ion Th. Simionescu (born Ion Gheorghiu; 10 July 1873—7 January 1944) was a Romanian geologist, paleontologist and naturalist. Born in Hemeiuș, Fântânele, Bacău County, his parents Maria and Toader Gheorghiu died when he was a young child. He ...

. In 1895, following the death of

Dimitrie Brândză Dimitrie Brândză (; 1846–1895) was a Romanian botanist. He founded the Botanical Garden of Bucharest, which is now named in his honor. Brândză was born in Viișoara, Botoșani County. After studying at the Academia Mihăileană in Iași, ...

, he was transferred to the University of Bucharest, also as botany professor."Mihail Vlădescu (1865–1944)", in ''Natura'', vol. 45, nr. 1-4/1992, pp. 143–44 In Bucharest, Vlădescu taught plant morphology and classification until he reached the retirement age in 1936. He headed the Botanical Institute from 1895 to 1936, was vice president of the Romanian Scientific Society from 1901 to 1936 and president of the Cultural League from 1897 to 1903. He was dean of the science faculty from 1915 to 1919 and rector of the university from 1920 to 1923. In politics, he sat in both the Assembly of Deputies and the

Senate 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 ...

. While in Iași, he belonged to

George Panu George Panu (March 9, 1848 – November 6, 1910) was a Moldavian, later Romanian memoirist, literary critic, journalist and politician. A native of Iași, educated there as well as in Paris and Brussels, he worked as a schoolteacher and lawyer, b ...

's Radical Party, shifting to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

once he reached Bucharest. He then joined the Conservative-Democratic Party and, finally, the People's Party.''Enciclopedia Argeșului și Muscelului'' – V
, at the

University of Pitești The University of Piteşti ( ro, Universitatea din Pitești, abbreviated ''UPIT'') is a public university in Piteşti, Romania, founded in 1991. History The first Higher Education Institution in Piteşti was founded in 1962 and was called "The 3 ...

br>''Enciclopedia Argeșului și Muscelului'' site
, pp. 301–02 From December 1904 to October 1906, he was Religious Affairs and Public Instruction Minister under

Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino Prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (22 September 1833 – 22 March 1913), was a Romanian politician and lawyer, one of the leading Conservative Party policymakers. Among his political posts were minister of public instruction in Romania, preside ...

; from December 1921 to January 1922, he served as Domains Minister under Take Ionescu.Stelian Neagoe, ''Istoria guvernelor României'', p. 71, 87. Bucharest: Editura Machiavelli, 1999, While a Conservative deputy for his native Muscel area from 1901 to 1909, he initiated legislation for a rural credit bank called ''Casa Rurală''. His articles appeared in various publications, and he submitted several botanical entries to ''

Enciclopedia română ''Enciclopedia Română'' was the first encyclopedia in the Romanian language. It was published in three volumes by the ASTRA. The decision to published the ''Enciclopedia română'' was made at a meeting of the ASTRA on February 7, 1895. The ...

'' in which he espoused Darwinist ideas.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vladescu, Mihail 1865 births 1944 deaths People from Câmpulung Romanian botanists Evolutionary biologists Bryologists University of Paris alumni Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty University of Bucharest faculty Rectors of the University of Bucharest Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Romanian Ministers of Culture Romanian Ministers of Education Romanian Ministers of Agriculture Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians Conservative-Democratic Party politicians People's Party (interwar Romania) politicians 20th-century Romanian politicians