Ion Ghica

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Ion Ghica

Ion Ghica (August 12, 1816—May 7, 1897) was a Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located in Southeastern Europe Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian Mountains, bordering on the Black Sea....
n revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania

Prime Minister of Romania

The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania.Currently, the prime minister is Emil Boc, president of the Democratic Liberal Party ....
(between 1866 and 1867, and between 1870 and 1871). He was a full member of the Romanian Academy

Romanian Academy

The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Romania in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
and its president for four times (1876-1882, 1884-1887, 1890-1893 and 1894-1895).

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Ion Ghica (August 12, 1816—May 7, 1897) was a Romania

Romania

Prime Minister of Romania

Romanian Academy

Pantazi Ghica

Pantazi Ghica was a Wallachian-born Romanian politician and lawyer, also known as a dramatist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. A prominent representative of the Liberalism and radicalism in Romania, he was the younger brother and lifelong collaborator of Ion Ghica, who served as List of Prime Ministers of Romania of the Kingdo...
, a prolific writer and politician.

Early life and Revolution

He was born in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital city, industrial and commercial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the D?mbovita River....
, Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a Historical regions of Romania and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians....
, to the Ghicas

Ghica family

The Ghicas were a noble family, ruling Wallachia and Moldavia for much of the period from the 17th century through the 19th century. The Ghicas originated from Albania and came north to Wallachia during the Ottoman Empire period ....
, a prominent boyar

Boyar

A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism Moscovy, Kievan Rusian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian Aristocracy, second only to the ruling knyazs , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
family with strong Aromanian

Aromanians

Aromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania ....
roots, and was the nephew of both Grigore Alexandru Ghica

Grigore Alexandru Ghica

Grigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika was a List of rulers of Moldavia of Moldavia between October 14, 1849 and June 1853, and again between October 30, 1854 and June 3, 1856....
(who was to become Prince

List of rulers of Wallachia

This is a List of rulers of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1862, leading to the creation of Romania....
of Wallachia in the 1840s and 1850s) and Ion Câmpineanu, a Carbonari
Carbonari

The Carbonari were groups of secret society founded in early 19th-century Italy. Their goals were patriotic and liberal and they played an important role in the Risorgimento and the early years of Italian nationalism....
-inspired radical

Radicalism (historical)

The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later become a general term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order....
. Ion Ghica was educated in Bucharest and in the West of Europe, studying engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline and profession of applying Technology and science knowledge and utilizing natural laws and physical resources in order to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and process that safely realize a desired objective and meet specified criteria....
and mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
in France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
from 1837 to 1840.

After finishing his studies in Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, he left for Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river....
and was involved in the failed Fratia ("Brotherhood") conspiracy of 1848, which was intended to bring about the union of Wallachia and Moldavia under one native Romanian leader, Prince Mihai Sturdza. Ion Ghica became a lecturer on mathematics at the Academy which was founded by the same Prince Sturdza in Iasi

Iasi

Iasi , is a Cities in Romania and Municipality in Romania in north-eastern Romania. The city was the capital of Principality of Moldavia from the 16th century until 1861 and of Romania between 1916?1918 during World War I....
(future University of Iasi

University of Iasi

The University of Iasi is a university in Iasi, Romania. It was the first institution of its kind in the Danubian Principalities, opening in 1860....
).

He joined the Wallachian revolutionary camp, and, in the name of the Provisional Government

Provisional government

A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a previous administration or regime....
then established in Bucharest, went to Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
to approach the Ottoman Imperial

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
government; he, Nicolae Balcescu

Nicolae Balcescu

Nicolae Balcescu was a Romanians Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution....
, and General Gheorghe Magheru

Gheorghe Magheru

General Gheorghe Magheru was a Romanians revolutionary and soldier from Wallachia, and political ally of Nicolae Balcescu....
were instrumental in mediating negotiations between the Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountains, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical regions of Crisana, Maramures, and Banat....
n Romanian leader Avram Iancu

Avram Iancu

Avram Iancu was a Transylvanian Romanians lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the The Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas of 1848-1849....
and the Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
Revolutionary government

Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas

From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Monarchy Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalism character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian ethnic German, Magyars, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Romanians, Serbs, Italian people, and Croats, a...
of Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth

Lajos Kossuth was a Hungary lawyer, politician and Governor-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter....
.

In Samos and Romania

While in Istanbul, he was appointed Bey

Bey

Bey is a Turkish language title for "chieftain," traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. In historical accounts, many Turkey, other Turkic peoples and Iran leaders are titled Baig....
of Samos

Samos Island

Samos is a Greece island in the North Aegean sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the Ionian coast of Turkey....
(1854 - 1859), where he proved his leadership skills by extirpating local piracy (most of which was aimed at transports supplying the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Oriental War was fought between the Russian Empire on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other....
). After completing the task, Ghica was awarded the honorary title of Prince of Samos by Sultan

Ottoman Dynasty

File:Barber cape.jpgThe Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan....
Abd-ul-Mejid I in 1856.

In 1859, after the union of Moldavia and Walachia had been effected, Prince

Domnitor

Domnitor was the official title of the ruler of the Danubian Principalities between 1859 and 1866. "Domnitor" was used in medieval times along with the slavonic-derived term of "Voievod"/voivode, and it derives from the 'cultivated Latin' term Dominus "; ....
Alexandru Ioan Cuza

Alexander John Cuza

Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the Danubian Principalities between 1859 and 1866....
asked Ion Ghica to return. Later (1866), despite being trusted by Prince Cuza, Ghica took active part in the secret grouping that secured Cuza's overthrow. He was the first prime minister under Prince of Romania (afterwards King of Romania

King of Romania

King of the Roumanians rather than King of Romania was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947 when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
) Carol of Hohenzollern

Carol I of Romania

Carol I of Romania, original name Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern , German prince, was elected Domnitor of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexander John Cuza by a palace coup; following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkis...
.

Ghica is also noted as one of the first major Liberal figures in the Kingdom of Romania

Kingdom of Romania

The Kingdom of Roumania was the old Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between March 13, 1881 and December 30, 1947, specified by the First , and respectively, the Second Constitution of Roumania....
, and one of the leaders of the incipient Liberal Party

National Liberal Party (Romania)

The Partidul National Liberal is a liberal parties in Romania, the third largest party in parliament, being outrunned by the Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party of Romania....
. His group's radicalism

Radicalism (historical)

The term Radical was used during the late 18th century for proponents of the Radical Movement. It later become a general term for those favoring or seeking political reforms which include dramatic changes to the social order....
, with its boyar leadership that had engineered the defunct Revolution, surfaced as republicanism

Republicanism

Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by other means than hereditary, often elections....
whenever Carol approached the Conservatives

Conservative Party (Romania, 1880-1918)

The Conservative Party was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romania's two most important parties, the other one being the National Liberal Party . The party was the party of government for a total of 14 years, more than a third of its existence....
; Ghica joined the anti-dynastic movement of 1870-1871 that had surfaced with the Republic of Ploiesti

Republic of Ploiesti

The Republic of Ploiesti was a revolt against the Domnitor in the city of Ploiesti, Romania, on August 8, 1870....
. The matter of the Liberals' loyalty was ultimately settled 1876, with the exceptionally long Liberal Ministry of Ion Bratianu

Ion Bratianu

Ion C. Bratianu was one of the major political figures of 19th century Romania. He was the younger brother of Dimitrie Bratianu, as well as the father of Ion I....
. In 1881, Ghica was appointed Romanian Minister

Diplomatic rank

Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis....
in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, an office he retained until 1889; he died in Ghergani, Dâmbovita County

Dâmbovita County

D?mbovita is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at T?rgoviste....
.

Works

Beside his political distinction, Ion Ghica earned a literary reputation by writing his Letters, addressed to Vasile Alecsandri

Vasile Alecsandri

Vasile Alecsandri, was a Romanian poet, playwright, politician, and diplomat. He collected Romanian folklore and was one of the principal animators of the 19th century movement for Romanian cultural identity and union of Moldavia and Wallachia....
, his lifelong friend. Conceived and written during his residency in London, the letters depict the ancestral stage of Romanian society, as it appeared to be fading away.

He was also the author of Amintiri din pribegie ("Recollections from Exile"), in 1848, and of Convorbiri Economice ("Conversations on Economy"), dealing with major economic issues. He was the first to advocate the favoring of local initiatives over foreign investments in industry and commerce - to a certain extent, this took the form of protectionism

Protectionism

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive import quota, and a variety of other restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and prevent foreign take-over of local markets and companies....
(a characteristic of the Liberal Party throughout the coming period, and until World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
).