Dimitrie Sturdza (Romanian pronunciation: [diˈmitri.e ˈsturza] ⓘ, in full Dimitrie Alexandru Sturdza-Miclăușanu; 10 March 1833 – 21 October 1914) was a Romanian statesman and author of the late 19th century, and president of the Romanian Academy between 1882 and 1884.
Born in Iași, Moldavia, and educated there at the Academia Mihăileană, he continued his studies in GermanyatMunich, Göttingen, Bonn, and Berlin.[1] He took part in the political movements of the time.
Sturdza was private secretary to Prince Alexander John Cuza.[2] He afterwards turned against the increasingly unsanctioned rule of Cuza: He became Minister of Public Instruction in 1859, and was one of the most zealous promoters of the overthrow of Cuza. In 1866, he joined Ion Brătianu and others in the deposition of Cuza and the election of Prince Charles of Hohenzollern (later King Carol I of Romania).[1] He became a member of the Liberal government. In the cabinet of Bratianu, 1876–88, he repeatedly held ministerial posts.[1]
In 1892 he was elected leader of the National Liberal Party in succession to Brătianu, and was four times Prime Minister.[2] During his last term in office, in 1907, Sturdza was called by King Carol I to handle the crisis created by the peasants' revolt of March. Although noted for his capacity for work, he was also a nationalist, resentful of "aliens"[3] (in line with the anti-Jewish policies of his party), and supported blocking non-Romanians from a large number of social positions. Sturdza was a notorious antisemite, supporting measures such as the expulsion of Romanian Jews, and he was known for his opposition towards the naturalization of the Jews in Romania. He was responsible for the exile of Romanian Jewish intellectuals Moses Gaster and Lazăr Şăineanu.[4]
He was appointed permanent secretary of the Romanian Academy, and became a recognized authority on Romanian numismatics. As secretary of the academy he was instrumental in assisting the publication of the collections of historic documents made by Constantin Hurmuzachi (30 vols., Bucharest, 1876–1897), and other acts and documents, as well as a number of minor political pamphlets of transitory value.[2]
His son Alexandru D. Sturdza [ro], by then a Colonel in the Romanian Army, defected to the Germans in 1916, during World War I.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gaster, Moses (1911). "Sturdza s.v. Demetrius [Dimitrie] Sturdza". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Romania 15 October 1895–2 December 1896 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Romania 12 April 1897–23 April 1899 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Romania 27 February 1901–4 January 1906 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Romania 24 March 1907–9 January 1909 |
Succeeded by |