Alexandru Athanasiu (; born 1 January 1955) is a Romanian politician and jurist. A former leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR), he has been a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) since 2001. Athanasiu previously served as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

on an ad interim basis for 9 days between 13 December and 22 December 1999, heading the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR) cabinet after the resignation of Radu Vasile ( PNȚCD. On 1 January 2007, with the accession of Romania to the European Union, Athanasiu became a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for the PSD (inside the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

). An author of several scientific works, he is the recipient of a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Law, as well as a professor at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

(since 1999). In 1995, his volume ''Legea Asigurărilor Sociale'' ("The Law on

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

") received the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

's '' Simion Bărnuțiu Award''.

Biography

Born 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 ...

, Athanasiu studied at the Gheorghe Lazăr High School in Bucharest, and later graduated from the law school at the Bucharest University. Between 1978 and 1982, he was employed by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. Having joined the newly created PSDR after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Athanasiu was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as a deputy in 1992, being nominated to the Committee for Labor and Social Protection. A Minister of Labor in the Victor Ciorbea CDR cabinet, he retained the office under Radu Vasile and his own premiership, being replaced by Smaranda Dobrescu during the leadership of Mugur Isărescu. In 1999, he replaced Sergiu Cunescu at the head of the PSDR, leading it into fusion with Adrian Năstase's Party of Social Democracy, PDSR (the fusion led to the creation of the PSD). In 2000, he was elected to the Romanian Senate on PSDR lists, representing

Bihor County Bihor County (, ) is a county (județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea (Nagyvárad). Toponymy ...

(re-elected in 2004 on PSD lists); he stood on the Committee for Foreign Policies. In 2003–2004, Athanasiu also served as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the Adrian Năstase executive (replacing Ecaterina Andronescu). Athanasiu is married with two children.

References

Biography at the Romanian Senate

Biography at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies

External links

European Parliament profileEuropean Parliament official photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasiu, Alexandru 1955 births Living people Romanian Social Democratic Party (1990–2001) politicians Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians Politicians from Bucharest Prime ministers of Romania Ministers of education of Romania Romanian jurists Members of the Senate of Romania University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Gheorghe Lazăr National College (Bucharest) alumni Social Democratic Party (Romania) MEPs MEPs for Romania 2007