Constantin Meissner (May 27, 1854–September 19, 1942) was a

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 pedagogue and schoolteacher. Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

in the Principality of Moldavia (present-day

), his family was of German origin. He studied at the private ''Institutul Academic'', followed by two years (1870-1872) 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 ...

. With the help of his professor

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 ...

, he was sent to the universities of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1873 in order to complete his studies. After returning home, he taught German language and literature at an Iași school for the sons of soldiers between 1878 and 1891. Meanwhile, in the autumn of 1879, he won a competition for the pedagogy professorate at the local Vasile Lupu Normal School, remaining there until retiring in 1913. During this period, he also taught German at the Pedagogical Institute and at a private girls' high school. He was a trusted confidant to renowned university professors who also taught in schools, such as

Petru Poni Petru Poni (4 January 1841 – 2 April 1925) was a Moldavian (later Romanian) chemist and mineralogist. Born into a family of ''răzeși'' (free peasants) in Săcărești, Iași County, he attended primary school in Târgu Frumos. In 1852, he enro ...

Grigore Cobălcescu Grigore Cobălcescu (September 22, 1831 – May 21, 1892) was a Moldavian, later Romanian geologist and paleontologist who is credited with introducing both fields into his country. Born in Iași, he graduated from the local Engineering and Arc ...

A. D. Xenopol Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol (; March 23, 1847, Iaşi – February 27, 1920, Bucharest) was a Romanian historian, philosopher, professor, economist, sociologist, and author. Among his many major accomplishments, he is the Romanian historian credi ...

Aron Densușianu Aron Densușianu (pen name of Aron Pop; November 19, 1837 – ) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian critic, literary historian, folklorist and poet. He was born in Densuș, Hunedoara County, in the Transylvania region. His parents were the Ro ...

and Alexandru Lambrior. Over the course of his career, Meissner also formed part of the administration at various schools.Ionel Maftei, ''Personalități ieșene: Omagiu'', vol. II, pp. 168-69. Iași: Comitetul de cultură și educație socialistă al județului Iași, 1975 From 1910 to 1912, he was general secretary in the Religious Affairs and Public Instruction Ministry, and in this capacity addressed problems of school administration. He was elected to multiple terms in the Assembly of Deputies, and around the time of World War I was president of the Iași

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 ...

organization. In March 1918, he became Industry and Commerce Minister in the government of Alexandru Marghiloman, serving until his resignation that June. Also that year, from June to November, he was President of the Assembly. At that time a member of the ephemeral Progressive Conservative Party, he later joined Alexandru Averescu's People's Party, becoming head of the Iași chapter. In July 1926, upon the resignation of

Petru Groza Petru Groza (7 December 1884 – 7 January 1958) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician, best known as the first Prime Minister of the Communist Party-dominated government under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Commu ...

, he entered Averescu's cabinet as Public Works Minister, serving until June 1927.Neagoe, p. 91 In 1902, together with Paul Bujor and other intellectuals, he helped found a society for gymnastics, sport and music. Becoming a close friend to Maiorescu, he was a member of the latter's ''

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 personali ...

'' organization. Meissner focused on educating the common people, choosing a career in primary education and in training village teachers. He drafted laws, regulations, reports, teaching plans and schedules, striving to apply efficient methods. He proposed different types of schools for distinct purposes, wrote textbooks and pedagogical treatises and held conferences for teachers. From 1886, when he became director at Vasile Lupu, he was consulted by Education Ministers, and was a constant advisor to ministers from 1892 onward. The university held a lavish 80th birthday celebration for him in 1934, and four days later, he was elected an honorary member of the Romanian Academy. At the same time, the applied primary school affiliated with Vasile Lupu was named in his honor. He died in 1942 and was buried at

Eternitatea cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...

. In 1905, he married Elena Buznea, a women's rights activist.Ghizela Cosma, ''Femeile și politica în România'', p. 159. Cluj-Napoca: Pres Universitară Clujeană, 2002.

Notes

References

*Stelian Neagoe, ''Istoria guvernelor României''. Bucharest: Editura Machiavelli, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner, Constantin 1854 births 1942 deaths Politicians from Iași People of the Principality of Moldavia Romanian people of German descent Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians People's Party (interwar Romania) politicians Romanian Ministers of Public Works Romanian Ministers of Industry and Commerce Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Junimists Romanian schoolteachers Romanian educational theorists Heads of schools in Romania Romanian textbook writers Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Honorary members of the Romanian Academy Burials at Eternitatea cemetery