Prince Șerban Constantin Cantacuzino (; 4 February 1941 – 4 July 2011) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and actor, who appeared in more than a dozen television, film, and musical roles during his career. He was a descendant of

Șerban Cantacuzino Șerban Cantacuzino (), (1634/1640 – 29 October 1688) was a List of rulers of Wallachia, Prince of Wallachia between 1678 and 1688. Biography Șerban Cantacuzino was a member of the Romanian branch of the Cantacuzino family, Cantacuzino noble ...

, the

Prince of Wallachia This is a list of princes of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, led to the creation of ...

from 1678 to 1688. Born into Romanian nobility, specifically the

Cantacuzino family The House of Cantacuzino (; ) is a Romanian aristocratic family of Greek origin. The family gave a number of princes to Wallachia and Moldavia, and it claimed descent from a branch of the Byzantine Kantakouzenos family, specifically from Byzanti ...

, Cantacuzino was a descendant of

, the

who supported the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

at the

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...

, published the ''

Cantacuzino Bible The Bucharest Bible (), also known as the Cantacuzino Bible, was the first complete translation of the Bible into the Romanian language, published in Bucharest in 1688. It was ordered and patronized by Șerban Cantacuzino, then- ruler of Wallachi ...

'' and introduced

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

to present-day Romania. His father, Ion Filotti Cantacuzino, was a

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, and producer. Cantacuzino made his stage acting debut when he was 11 years old at the

National Theatre Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest () is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Grand Theatre of Bucharest") in 1852, its first director ...

in the production, ''The Prince and the Beggar'', opposite his grandmother, actress

Maria Filotti Maria Filotti (9 October 1883, Batogu, Brăila, Batogu, Brăila County, Romania – 5 November 1956, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian actress . She was described as one of the "prestigious actors of the great realistic school" and the "directres ...

. He starred in ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' as Prince Edward at the Army Theater in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

in 1963. Cantacuzino co-starred with

George Vraca George Vraca (; 1896–1964) was a Romanian stage and film actor. Born in Bucharest in an Aromanian family, he attended the city's Matei Basarab High School. He then studied at the Music and Drama Conservatory under the guidance of actor . V ...

in ''Richard III''. Cantacuzino moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, in 1990. He died in Paris on 4 July 2011, at the age of 70. His funeral was held at the Bellu Orthodox Cemetery in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantacuzino, Serban 1941 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Romanian male actors Romanian male film actors Romanian radio actors Romanian male television actors Romanian male stage actors Nobility from Bucharest Romanian princes Romanian expatriates in France Male actors from Paris Male actors from Bucharest Burials at Bellu Cemetery