Constantin Grădișteanu (17 September 1833–10 April 1890) was a

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

n-born

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n politician. Descended from an old ''boyar'' family, his father was Șerban Grădișteanu. He studied at Paris, earning a degree in literature from the Sorbonne in 1852 and then attending the law faculty. In February 1866, he was named

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

before being transferred to a similar post in

Putna County Putna County was a county (Romanian language, Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania, in southern Moldavia. The county seat was Focșani. The county was located in the central-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the south of Moldavia. To ...

the following month. A conservative, he was part of the constituent assembly in 1866, the same year he was first elected to the Assembly of Deputies. In 1876, he was sent to 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 ...

. From April to December 1870, Grădișteanu served as

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the cabinet of

Manolache Costache Epureanu Manolache Costache Epureanu (1823–1880) was twice the Prime Minister of Romania both as a representative of the Conservative Party and of the National Liberal Party, more specifically for the first time in 1870 (20 April–14 December) and fo ...

. He was Assembly President from January to November 1889, and died 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 ...

the following year.Ion Mamina, ''Monarhia constituțională în România'', p. 396. Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedică, 2000. He was married to Elena, the sister of

Alexandru Sihleanu Alexandru Sihleanu (January 6, 1834–March 14, 1857) was a noted Wallachian poet, brother in law of politician Constantin Grădișteanu. Biography Born in Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city o ...

.Mihai Sorin Rǎdulescu, ''Elita liberală românească, 1866-1900'', p. 35. Bucharest, Editura All, 1998.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gradisteanu, Constantin 1833 births 1890 deaths Romanian nobility University of Paris alumni Romanian Ministers of Finance Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Prefects of Romania Romanian expatriates in France