Petru Th. Missir (October 8, 1856–June 10, 1929) was a

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 literary critic, journalist and jurist. 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 lette ...

into a family of

ethnic Armenian Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''Romanization of Armenian, hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Republic of Artsakh ...

merchants, he graduated from Iași's National College in 1873. While a student at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

's law faculty, he entered and became secretary of the ''România jună'' society. He later studied law at

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where he earned a doctorate in 1879. A member of ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost pers ...

'', he also served as the organization's attorney; he was both a lifelong friend to

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...

and close to

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...

and Petre P. Carp. After working as a magistrate in Iași from 1880 to 1884, Mircea Platon
"În linie dreaptă: Conservatorul Petru Th. Missir şi statul reprezentativ"
in ''Caiete Critice'', Nr. 7/2011, p.68-9 he taught both natural and international law 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 ...

starting in 1884. From 1890, Missir was a professor at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

, and attended the

Hague Conference on Private International Law The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is an intergovernmental organisation in the area of private international law (also known as ''conflict of laws''), that administers several international conventions, protocols and soft ...

in 1893. He was among the ''Junimea'' members who raised funds in defense of

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active memb ...

. He edited the weekly ''Era nouă'' (1889-1900) and was part of the editing committee of ''Revista română'' (1902). In 1891, ''Era nouă'' became associated with the Constitutional Party, a Carp-led ''Junimist'' dissident faction of the Conservative Party, which it rejoined in 1900. In 1912, he was vice president of the

Romanian Senate ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list ...

. The following year, he entered

Take Ionescu Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his ...

Conservative-Democratic Party The Conservative-Democratic Party (, PCD) was a political party in Romania. Over the years, it had the following names: the Democratic Party, the Nationalist Conservative Party, or the Unionist Conservative Party. The Conservative-Democratic Part ...

. He was elected an honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1926.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 433. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missir, Petru 1856 births 1929 deaths People from Roman, Romania Romanian people of Armenian descent Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Academic staff of the University of Bucharest International law scholars 20th-century Romanian lawyers 19th-century Romanian lawyers Junimists Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians Conservative-Democratic Party politicians Members of the Senate of Romania Honorary members of the Romanian Academy