Mihail C. Vlădescu (25 April 1865 – 1944) 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 ...

n botanist and politician. Born in

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , , Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'') is a municipiu, city in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is attested on the Fra Mauro map fro ...

, his parents Constantin and Bălașa were intellectuals. After being educated by private tutors, he went to Paris for his high school degree before enrolling in the natural sciences faculty at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in 1885. After a period of specialization at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

, he obtained a doctorate of science from the Sorbonne in 1889. His thesis dealt with stem development in ''

Selaginella ''Selaginella'', also known as spikemosses or lesser clubmosses, is a genus of lycophyte. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Selaginellaceae, with over 750 known species. This family is distinguished from Lycopodiaceae (th ...

'' species and was supervised by

Gaston Bonnier Gaston Eugène Marie Bonnier (; 9 April 1853 – 2 January 1922) was a French botanist and plant ecologist. Biography Bonnier first studied at École Normale Supérieure in Paris from 1873 to 1876. Together with Charles Flahault, he studied ...

. He married Maria Anastasescu in 1897. In 1888, he was named professor of botany at

Iași University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

, where he took over a course temporarily taught by

Nicolae Leon Nicolae Leon (April 15, 1862 – October 4, 1931) was a Romanian biologist. He was the elder half brother of the naturalist Grigore Antipa. Leon was born in Băiceni, a village in Curtești commune in Botoșani County. Starting in 1881 he studied ...

. In 1890, he held a lecture at the university in which he advocated for evolutionist ideas and defended Darwinism. His students included

Sava Athanasiu Sava Athanasiu (28 April 1861 – 8 April 1946) was a Romanian geologist and paleontologist. He was born in Ruginești, Vrancea County (at the time in Putna County), the first of Costachi and Paraschiva Athanasiu's four children. He first studied ...

, Ioan Gh. Botez,

Dimitrie Călugăreanu Dimitrie Călugăreanu ()–December 17, 1937) was a Romanian physician, naturalist and physiologist. Călugăreanu was born in Pomârla, Botoșani County; his parents were the possibly illiterate peasants Constantin and Glicheria. After obta ...

Constantin Motaș Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konstant ...

and Ion Th. Simionescu. In 1895, following the death of

Dimitrie Brândză Dimitrie Brândză (; October 22, 1846–August 15, 1895) was a Romanian botanist. He founded the Botanical Garden of Bucharest, which is now named in his honor. Brândză was born in Viișoara, Botoșani County. After studying at the Academ ...

, he was transferred to 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 ...

, also as botany professor."Mihail Vlădescu (1865–1944)", in ''Natura'', vol. 45, nr. 1-4/1992, pp. 143–44 In Bucharest, Vlădescu taught plant morphology and classification until he reached the retirement age in 1936. He headed the Botanical Institute from 1895 to 1936, was vice president of the Romanian Scientific Society from 1901 to 1936 and president of the Cultural League from 1897 to 1903. He was dean of the science faculty from 1915 to 1919 and rector of the university from 1920 to 1923. In politics, he sat in both the Assembly of Deputies and 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 ...

. While in Iași, he belonged to

George Panu George Panu (March 9, 1848 – November 6, 1910) was a Moldavian, later Romanian memoirist, literary critic, journalist and politician. A native of Iași, educated there as well as in Paris and Brussels, he worked as a schoolteacher and lawyer, b ...

's Radical Party, shifting to the Conservative Party once he reached Bucharest. He then joined the

Conservative-Democratic Party The Conservative-Democratic Party (, PCD) was a political party in Romania. Over the years, it had the following names: the Democratic Party, the Nationalist Conservative Party, or the Unionist Conservative Party. The Conservative-Democratic Part ...

and, finally, the People's Party.''Enciclopedia Argeșului și Muscelului'' – V
, at the University of Piteștibr>''Enciclopedia Argeșului și Muscelului'' site
pp. 301–02 From December 1904 to October 1906, he was Religious Affairs and Public Instruction Minister under

Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino Prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (22 September 1833 – 22 March 1913), was a Romanian politician and lawyer, one of the leading Conservative Party policymakers. Among his political posts were minister of public instruction in Romania, presid ...

; from December 1921 to January 1922, he served as Domains Minister under

Take Ionescu Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian Centrism, centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Sta ...

.Stelian Neagoe, ''Istoria guvernelor României'', p. 71, 87. Bucharest: Editura Machiavelli, 1999, While a Conservative deputy for his native Muscel area from 1901 to 1909, he initiated legislation for a rural credit bank called ''Casa Rurală''. His articles appeared in various publications, and he submitted several botanical entries to ''

Enciclopedia română ''Enciclopedia Română'' was the first encyclopedia in the Romanian language. It was published in three volumes by the Asociația Transilvană pentru Literatura Română și Cultura Poporului Român, ASTRA. The decision to published the ''Encic ...

'' in which he espoused Darwinist ideas.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vladescu, Mihail 1865 births 1944 deaths People from Câmpulung Romanian botanists Evolutionary biologists Bryologists University of Paris alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Rectors of the University of Bucharest Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Ministers of culture of Romania Ministers of education of Romania Ministers of agriculture of Romania Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians Conservative-Democratic Party politicians People's Party (interwar Romania) politicians 20th-century Romanian politicians People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia