Lascăr Catargiu

Lascăr Catargiu
Prime Minister of Romania
In office May 11, 1866 – July 13, 1866 March 11, 1871 – March 30, 1876 March 29, 1889 – November 3, 1889 December 29, 1891 – October 15, 1895
Monarch	Carol I
Preceded by	Nicolae Crețulescu (1866) Ion Ghica (1871) Teodor Rosetti (1889) Ion Emanuel Florescu (1891)
Succeeded by	Ion Ghica (1866) Ion Emanuel Florescu (1876) Gheorghe Manu (1889) Dimitrie Sturdza (1895)
Minister of Internal Affairs
In office 11 May 1866 – 13 July 1866
Prime Minister	himself
Preceded by	Dimitrie Ghica
Succeeded by	Ion Ghica
Minister of War
In office 22 February 1894 – 11 June 1894
Prime Minister	himself
Preceded by	Iacob Lahovary
Succeeded by	Constantin Poenaru
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 7 December 1866 – 1 November 1867
Monarch	Carol I
Preceded by	Manolache Costache Epureanu
Succeeded by	Anastasie Fătu
Personal details
Born	(1823-11-01)November 1, 1823 Iași, Moldavia
Died	April 11, 1899(1899-04-11) (aged 75) Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
Resting place	Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest
Nationality	Romanian
Political party	Conservative Party
Parent	Constantin Catargiu (father)
Occupation	Politician

Lascăr Catargiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈlaskər katarˈd͡ʒi.u] or Lascăr Catargi; 1 November 1823 – 11 April [O.S. 30 March] 1899) was a Romanian conservative statesman born in Moldavia. He belonged to an ancient Wallachian family, one of whose members had been banished in the 17th century by Prince Matei Basarab, and had settled in Moldavia.

Biography

He was born in Iași, the son of Constantin Catargiu, the scion of an old boyar family. From 1843 to 1844, he served as deputy ispravnic in Huși and then as pârcălab in Neamț County. Lascăr Catargiu rose to the office of prefect of police in Iași under the rule of the Moldavian Prince Grigore Ghica (1849–1856). In 1857 he became a member of the ad hoc Divan of Moldavia, a commission elected in accordance with the Treaty of Paris (1856) to vote on the proposed union of Moldavia and Wallachia (the Danubian Principalities). His strongly conservative views, especially on land reform, induced the Conservatives to support him as a candidate for the Romanian throne in 1859.

Lascăr Catargiu - caricature by Nicolae Petrescu-Găină

During the reign of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859–1866), Catargiu was one of the Opposition leaders, and received much assistance from his kinsman, Barbu Catargiu (b. 1807), a noted journalist and politician, who was assassinated in Bucharest on 20 June 1862. Lascăr Catargiu consequently took part in the so-called monstrous coalition that toppled Cuza, and, on the accession of Domnitor Carol I in May 1866, became President of the Council of Ministers but, finding himself unable to cooperate with his Liberal colleagues, Ion Brătianu and C. A. Rosetti, he resigned in July.

After eight more ministerial changes, culminating in the anti-dynastic agitation of 1870–1871 (provoked by the Liberals in the context of the Franco-Prussian War; see also Republic of Ploiești), Catargiu formed, for the first time in Romanian history, a stable Conservative cabinet, which lasted until 1876. His policy, which averted political violence and revived the popularity of the crown, was regarded as unpatriotic and reactionary by the Liberals, who resumed office in 1876; and a proposal to impeach the whole Catargiu cabinet was only withdrawn in 1878.

Statue of Catargiu on Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard, Bucharest

Catargiu remained in opposition until 1889, when he formed another cabinet, taking the portfolio of the Interior; but this administration fell after seven months. In the Ion Emanuel Florescu cabinet of March 1891 he occupied the same position, and in December he again became president of the Council, retaining office until 1895. During this period he was responsible for several important reforms, chiefly financial and commercial. He died in Bucharest and was buried in the city's Bellu Cemetery.

The Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard—one of the main roads in central Bucharest—connects Piața Romană to Piața Victoriei. In the middle of the boulevard lies a statue of Catargiu, built by sculptor Antonin Mercié in 1907.

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Catargiu, Lascar". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.