Teodor Baconschi (, also spelled Teodor Baconsky or Baconski) (born 14 February 1963) is a Romanian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( ro, Ministerul Afacerilor Externe) is the ministry responsible for external affairs of the Romanian Government. The current Foreign Minister is Bogdan Aurescu. List of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (1 ...

between December 2009 and January 2012.

Early years

Baconschi was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

to the poet Anatol E. Baconsky and his wife Clara. He graduated from the Theological Institute of 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 ...

in 1985, received a

Diplôme d'études approfondies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

(Master of Advanced Studies) at the Université de Paris IV-Sorbonne in 1991 and a PhD in Religious Anthropology and Compared History of Religions from the same university in 1994. He continued with his post-doctoral studies as a Fellow of the New Europe College of Bucharest until 1996. He also lectured on Religious Anthropology at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest. Baconschi was Director of ''Anastasia Publishers'' in Bucharest and editor-in-chief of the ''Spiritual Life'' on Romanian National Public Television. He also worked as an advisor with the Ministry of Culture and editor with the Biblical and Mission Institute's Publishing Office of the

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of ...

Diplomatic and political career

Baconschi has served as the Romanian Ambassador to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and to the Republic of San Marino in 1999–2001, to Portugal in 2002–2004, to France,

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

from September 2007 to December 2009. From October 2006 until August 2007, he served as the Presidential Advisor on political affairs with the Presidential Administration. Baconschi held offices of the Director General in 2001 and State Secretary for Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania from January 2005 to September 2006. On December 23, 2009, he was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania. As the Foreign Minister, Baconschi has been a proponent of closer ties with the United States and further integration into

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. Baconschi was fired by Prime Minister

Emil Boc Emil Boc (; born 6 September 1966) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in Ju ...

on January 23, 2012 following a blog post where the Foreign Minister described anti-government protesters as "clueless and inept slum dwellers."

Awards and works

Baconschi has received several awards throughout his career: the Grand Cross of the

Order of Pius IX , image = , caption = Knight's cross of the Order of Pius IX , awarded_by = , type = Papal order of knighthood , established = 1847 , motto = ''VIRTUTI ET MERITO''(Virtue and Merit) , day ...

(Holy See), Grand Officer of the

Order of Saint Agatha The Order of Saint Agatha ( it, Ordine Equestre di Sant'Agata) is a State order established on 5 June 1923 by the Grand and General Council of the Republic of San Marino. It is named after Saint Agatha, on whose feast day 5 February, Pope Clement ...

(San Marino), Officer of the National

Order of Faithful Service The National Order of Faithful Service ( ro, Ordinul Național "Serviciul Credincios") is the second highest national order of Romania, with the Order of the Star of Romania being the highest national order. Originally it was established as the Me ...

(Romania), Grand Officer of the

Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity The Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity ( it, Stella della solidarietà italiana ) was founded as a national order by the first President of the Italian Republic, Enrico De Nicola, in 1947, to recognise civilian and military expatriates or ...

, Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit (Portugal), as well as Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(France). Baconschi published several books in French and

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, such as: *Jacob and the Angel. 45 Hypostases of the Religious Dimension, Bucharest, Anastasia Books, 1996, 272 p. *The Temptation of Goodness. Essays on the Urban Dimension of Faith, Anastasia Books, 1999, 304 p. *The Power of Schism. A Portrait of European Christianity, Anastasia Books, 2001, 356 p. He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese and Italian. He is an affiliate member of the International Association of Patristic Studies (AIEP, Paris), co-founder of the Reflection Group for the Renewal of the Church (Bucharest), member of the New Europe College (Bucharest) and member of the Social Dialog Group (Bucharest).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baconschi, Teodor Romanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Romanian presidential advisors Living people 1963 births Ambassadors of Romania to the Holy See Ambassadors of Romania to Malta Ambassadors of Romania to San Marino Ambassadors of Romania to France Ambassadors of Romania to Monaco Ambassadors of Romania to Andorra Ambassadors of Romania to Portugal People's Movement Party politicians