View source for Alexandru Ioan Cuza

{{Short description|First ruler of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (1820–1873)}}
{{other uses|Alexandru Ioan Cuza (disambiguation)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Expand Romanian|topic=bio|date=February 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2015}}
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{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Alexandru Ioan Cuza
| image        = Alexandru Ioan Cuza - Photo by Carol Popp de Szathmáry.jpg
| caption      = Photograph by [[Carol Szathmari]], 1859
| reign        = 5 February 1862 –<br>23 February 1866
| predecessor  = Himself as Prince of Moldavia and Wallachia
| successor    = [[Carol I of Romania|Carol I]]
| regent       = ''[[List of prime ministers of Romania#United Principalities (1859–1881)|Full list]]''
| reg-type     = Prime&nbsp;ministers
| succession   = [[Domnitor|Domnitor of Romania]]
| reign1       = 5 January 1859 –<br>5 February 1862
| predecessor1 = [[Grigore Alexandru Ghica]]
| successor1   = Himself as Domnitor of Romania
| succession1  = [[List of rulers of Moldavia|Prince of Moldavia]]
| reign2       = 24 January 1859 –<br>5 February 1862
| predecessor2 = [[Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei]]
| successor2   = Himself as Domnitor of Romania
| succession2  = [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Prince of Wallachia]]
| spouse       = {{Marriage|[[Elena Cuza|Elena Rosetti]]|1844}}
| issue        = [[Alexandru Al. Ioan Cuza|Sașa Cuza]]<br/>Dimitrie Cuza
| house        = [[Cuza]]
| father       = Ioan Cuza
| mother       = Sultana Cozadini
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1820|3|20|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Bârlad]], [[Moldavia]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1873|5|15|1820|3|20|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Heidelberg]], [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Baden]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
| place of burial = [[Trei Ierarhi Monastery|Three Holy Hierarchs Church]], [[Iași]]
| signature    = Signature of Alexandru Ioan Cuza.svg
| religion     = [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]]
}}

'''Alexandru Ioan Cuza''' ({{IPA|ro|alekˈsandru iˈo̯aŋ ˈkuza|lang|Ro-Alexandru Ioan Cuza.ogg}}, or '''Alexandru Ioan I''', also Anglicised as '''Alexander John Cuza'''; {{OldStyleDate|20 March|1820|8 March}} – 15 May 1873) was the first ''[[domnitor]]'' (prince) of the [[Romanian Principalities]] through his double election as [[List of monarchs of Moldavia#Post-Phanariote period|Prince of Moldavia]] on 5 January 1859 and [[List of princes of Wallachia#Post-Phanariote period|Prince of Wallachia]] on 24 January 1859, which resulted in [[Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia|the unification of the two states]]. He was a prominent figure of the [[Moldavian Revolution of 1848]]. Following his double election, he initiated a series of [[liberalism|liberal]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Liberalismul și alegerea lui Cuza | date=26 December 2021 | url=https://www.descopera.ro/istorie/19905592-liberalismul-si-alegerea-lui-cuza?uord=Ns%3D4KHD3iDG9Pm5kKcthhVUQZQjpSLM6jD8jPtC1J-T7iWoiOZWuJ22KpW7oMSkHVKNIrADOXeXLJDP6gE3zX2iuJ21zuVRCOQLpS/Q%3DjzY%3DZYe2IXgls2bqQ6OaK21wvoRCMAX/ }}</ref> and [[progressivism|progressive]]<ref>{{cite web | title=24 ianuarie 2023: Pasiunea mai puțin cunoscută a domnitorului Alexandru Ioan Cuza | date=24 January 2023 | url=https://www.radioimpuls.ro/24-ianuarie-2023-pasiunea-mai-putin-cunoscuta-a-domnitorului-alexandru-ioan-cuza-20285972 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Alexandru Ioan Cuza – ctitorul României moderne (1820-1873) | date=23 July 2023 | url=https://www.monitoruldevaslui.ro/2023/07/alexandru-ioan-cuza-ctitorul-romaniei-moderne-1820-1873/ }}</ref><ref>https://www.dacoromania-alba.ro/nr53/cuza.htm</ref> reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures.

As ruler of the [[Romanian Principalities]], he supported a political and diplomatic activity for the recognition of the union of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] by the suzerain [[Ottoman Empire]] and achieved constitutional and administrative unity between [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] in 1862, when the [[United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|Romanian Principalities]] officially adopted the name [[United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|Romanian United Principalities]] with a single capital at [[Bucharest]], a single national assembly and a single [[government]].

Cuza's reform policies alienated a large coalition of conservatives and radical liberals, for the most part landowners and business owners. On 22 February 1866,  he was forced to abdicate and leave the country. Today, he is often considered one of the founders of the modern Romanian state and a national hero of Romania.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cultuleroilor.ro/alexandru-ioan-cuza-in-constiinta-romanilor-2/ | title=Alexandru Ioan Cuza În Conștiința Românilor &#124; }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://romania.europalibera.org/a/unirea-1859-reformele-lui-cuza/31661505.html | title=24 Ianuarie 1859 &#124; Reformele lui Cuza și de ce au funcționat | newspaper=Europa Liberă România | date=24 January 2022 | last1=Pora | first1=Andreea }}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Cuza_-_Prince_Alexandre_Jean_Cuza_de_Rouamnie.svg|thumb|left|Coat of arms of the Cuza family]]
Born in [[Bârlad]], Cuza belonged to the traditional [[Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia|boyar]] class in [[Moldavia]], the son of [[Ispravnic]] Ioan Cuza (who was also a landowner in [[Fălciu County]]) and his wife, Sultana (or Soltana), a member of the [[:File:Cozadini_coat_of_arms.svg|Cozadini family]] of [[Phanariotes|Phanariote]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genovese]] origins.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://adevarul.ro/stil-de-viata/magazin/viata-mai-putin-cunoscuta-a-lui-alexandru-ioan-2264317.html|title=Viața mai puțin cunoscută a lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Ce a făcut înainte de a ajunge domnitor|website=adevarul.ro|date=6 May 2023 }}</ref> Alexander received an urbane European education in [[Iași]], [[Pavia]], [[Bologna]], and [[Athens]]; after a brief period of military service, he was also educated in [[Paris]] from 1837 to 1840.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Cuza, Alexander John|volume=7|page=678}}</ref> He became an officer in the [[Moldavian military forces|Moldavian Army]] and rose to the rank of [[colonel]]. Alexandru married Princess [[Elena Cuza|Elena Rosetti]] in 1844.

During the [[Revolutions of 1848]], Moldavia and [[Wallachia]] fell into revolt. The [[1848 Moldavian revolution|Moldavian unrest]] was quickly suppressed, but [[1848 Wallachian revolution|in Wallachia the revolutionaries took power]] and governed during the summer. Young Cuza played a prominent enough part to establish [[Liberalism in Romania|his liberal credentials]]. He was shipped to Vienna as a prisoner, where he made his escape with British support.

Returning during the reign of [[List of rulers of Moldavia|Prince]] [[Grigore Alexandru Ghica]], he became Moldavia's minister of war in 1858; he also represented [[Galați]] in the [[ad hoc Divan]] at [[Iași]]. Cuza was acting freely under the guarantees of the [[Great Power|European Powers]] in the eve of the [[Crimean War]] for recognition of a Prince of Moldavia. Cuza was a prominent speaker in the debates and strongly advocated the union of Moldavia and Wallachia. In default of a foreign prince, he was nominated as a candidate in both principalities by the pro-unionist [[Partida Națională]] (profiting of an ambiguity in the text of the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Treaty of Paris]]). Cuza was finally elected as Prince of Moldavia on 17 January 1859 (5 January [[Julian calendar|Julian]]) and, after "street pressure" changed the vote in [[Bucharest]], also Prince of Wallachia, on 5 February 1859 (24 January Julian), [[Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia|effectively uniting both principalities]].<ref name="EB1911"/> He received the firman from the Sultan on 2 December 1861 during a visit to Istanbul.
He was a recipient of the [[Order of Medjidie]], [[Order of Osmanieh]], [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]], and [[Order of the Redeemer]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rciusa.info/post/the-orders-and-decorations-of-alexandru-ioan-cuza-the-history-of-romania-in-one-object | title=The Orders and Decorations of Alexandru Ioan Cuza / The History of Romania in One Object | date=7 December 2020 }}</ref>

Although he and his wife [[Elena Cuza|Elena Rosetti]] had no children, she raised as her own children his two sons by his mistress [[Marija Obrenović|Elena Maria Catargiu-Obrenović]]: [[Alexandru Al. Ioan Cuza]] (1864–1889), and Dimitrie Cuza (1865–1888 ''suicide'').

==Reign==

===Diplomatic efforts===
Thus Cuza achieved a [[de facto]] union of the two principalities. The Powers backtracked, with [[Napoleon III|Napoleon III of France]] remaining supportive, while the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] ministry withheld approval of such a union at the [[Congress of Paris]] (18 October 1858); partly as a consequence, Cuza's authority was not recognized by his nominal [[suzerain]], [[Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire|Abdülaziz]], the [[Ottoman Dynasty|Sultan]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]], until 23 December 1861.<ref name="EB1911"/> Even then, the union was only accepted for the duration of Cuza's rule.

The union was formally declared three years later, on 5 February 1862, (24 January Julian), the new country bearing the name of Romania, with Bucharest as its capital city.

Cuza invested his diplomatic actions in gaining further concessions from the Powers: the sultan's assent to a [[Parliament of Romania|single unified parliament]] and [[Prime Minister of Romania|cabinet]] for Cuza's lifetime, in recognition of the complexity of the task. Thus, he was regarded as the political embodiment of a unified Romania.

===Reforms===

[[File:CuzaHuNewspaper.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Hungarian newspaper ''Vasárnapi Ujság'' commented "with sympathy and respect" (Carol C. Koka)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://actualitateasm.ro/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi|title=Pagina Suspendata – Site Gazduit de Claus Web|website=actualitateasm.ro}}</ref> Cuza's double election in Moldavia and Wallachia]]Assisted by his councilor [[Mihail Kogălniceanu]], an intellectual leader of the 1848 revolution, Cuza initiated a series of reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures.

His first measure addressed a need for increasing the land resources and revenues available to the state, by [[Secularization of monastic estates in Romania|nationalizing monastic estates]] in 1863.<ref name="Stoica1">{{cite book|last=Stoica|first=Vasile|title=The Roumanian Question: The Roumanians and their Lands|year=1919|publisher=Pittsburgh Printing Company|location=Pittsburgh|pages=69–70|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7314/view/1/69/}}</ref> Probably more than a quarter of Romania's farmland was controlled by untaxed [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] "[[Dedication (ritual)|Dedicated]] monasteries", which supported Greek and other foreign monks in shrines such as [[Mount Athos]] and Jerusalem, presenting a substantial drain on state revenues. Cuza got his parliament's backing to expropriate these lands.

During the secularization of the Antiochian [[Metochion]] in Bucharest, Cuza exiled its proistamenos the Metropolitan Ioannikios of Palmyra and arrested its hegumen Seraphim, later Metropolitan of Irenopolis in Isauria.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Επίσκοπος Παλμύρας Ιωαννίκιος Μασσαμίρι|url=http://users.sch.gr/markmarkou/1833_1870/1860/new/ioannikios_massamiri.htm|access-date=2022-02-04|website=users.sch.gr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Μητροπολίτης Ειρηνουπόλεως Σεραφείμ (+ 05-09-1906)|url=http://users.sch.gr/markmarkou/1901_1930/1906/koim/serafeim_irinoupoleos.htm|access-date=2022-02-04|website=users.sch.gr}}</ref> He offered compensation to the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Greek Orthodox Church]], but [[Patriarch Sophoronius III of Constantinople|Sophronius III]], the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]], refused to negotiate; after several years, the Romanian government withdrew its offer and no compensation was ever paid. State revenues thereby increased without adding any domestic tax burden.
The [[Land reform in Romania|land reform]], liberating peasants from the last [[corvée]]s, freeing their movements and redistributing some land (1864), was less successful.<ref name="Stoica1" /> In attempting to create a solid support base among the peasants, Cuza soon found himself in conflict with the group of [[Conservative Party (Romania, 1880-1918)|Conservatives]]. A liberal bill granting peasants title to the land they worked was defeated. Then the Conservatives responded with a bill that ended all peasant dues and responsibilities, but gave landlords title to all the land. Cuza vetoed it, then held a [[plebiscite]] to alter the Paris Convention (the virtual constitution), in the manner of Napoleon III.
[[File:1862PRINCIPATE.png|thumb|Romania in 1862 AD, after Alexandru Ioan Cuza merged the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia into one unitary state.]]
[[File:Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza.jpg|thumb|right|170px|Alexandru Ioan Cuza official portrait]]
[[File:Palatul Cuza Vodă de la Ruginoasa, Iași, România.jpg|left|thumb|150x150px|The Al.I. Cuza family residence in [[Ruginoasa, Iaşi|Ruginoasa]]]]
[[File:Palatul domnitorului Alexandru Ioan Cuza (azi Muzeul „Unirii” - Complexul Național Muzeal Moldova) (1).jpg|left|thumb|150x150px|The residence of Prince Cuza in [[Iași]], one of the two capitals of the United Principalities between 1859 and 1862]]
His plan to establish [[universal manhood suffrage]], together with the power of the Domnitor to rule by decree, passed by a vote of 682,621 to 1,307. This was an imperfect solution, still catering to the wealthy, and would be added onto with a constitution revision in 1866 after his abdication.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ioanid |first1=Radu |title=Sword of the Archangel: Fascist Ideology in Romania |date=1990 |publisher=East European Monographs |isbn=0880331895 |pages=36–37}}</ref> He consequently governed the country under the provisions of ''Statutul dezvoltător al Convenției de la Paris'' ("Statute expanding the Paris Convention"), an [[Constitution of Romania|organic law]] adopted on 15 July 1864. With his new plenary powers, Cuza then promulgated the Agrarian Law of 1863. Peasants received title to the land they worked, while landlords retained ownership of one third. Where there was not enough land available to create workable farms under this formula, state lands (from the confiscated monasteries) would be used to give the landowners compensation.

Despite the attempts by [[Lascăr Catargiu]]'s cabinet to force a transition in which some corvées were to be maintained, Cuza's reform marked the disappearance of the boyar class as a privileged group, and led to a channeling of energies into [[capitalism]] and [[industrialization]]; at the same time, however, land distributed was still below necessities, and the problem became stringent over the following decades – as peasants reduced to destitution sold off their land or found that it was insufficient for the needs of their growing families.

Cuza's reforms also included the adoption of the Criminal Code and the Civil Code based on the [[Napoleonic Code]] (1864), a Law on Education, establishing tuition-free, compulsory public education for primary schools<ref name="Stoica1" /> (1864; the system, nonetheless, suffered from drastic shortages in allocated funds; illiteracy was eradicated about 100 years later, during the communist regime). He founded the [[University of Iași]] (1860) and the University of Bucharest (1864), and helped develop a modern, European-style Romanian Army, under a working relationship with France. He is the founder of the Romanian Naval Forces.

==Downfall and exile==
[[File:Portrait of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by August Strixner.png|thumb|right|140px|Cuza in the 1860s; portrait by August Strixner]][[File:StampRomania1865Michel13.JPG|thumb|left|140px|1865 stamp]]Cuza failed in his effort to create an alliance of prosperous peasants and a strong liberal prince, ruling as a benevolent authoritarian in the style of Napoleon III. Having to rely on a decreasing group of hand-picked bureaucrats, Cuza began facing a mounting opposition after his land reform bill, with liberal landowners voicing concerns over his ability to represent their interests. Along with financial distress, there was an awkward scandal that revolved around his mistress, [[Marija Obrenović|Maria Catargiu-Obrenović]], and popular discontent culminated in a coup d'état.

Cuza was forced to abdicate by the so-called "[[monstrous coalition]]" of Conservatives and Liberals. At four o'clock on the morning of 11 February 1866, a group of military conspirators broke into the palace, and compelled the prince to sign his abdication. On the following day they conducted him safely across the border.<ref name="EB1911"/>[[File:Daumier30.05.1866.PNG|thumb|right|150px|A French perspective on the situation after Cuza's toppling, caricature by [[Honoré Daumier]] in ''[[Le Charivari]]'' (May 5, 1866). A character symbolising the [[Danubian Principalities]], looking on as the Foreign Powers charged with overseeing him quarrel: "Oh, my! It looks as if they are no longer taking care of me at all!"]]

His successor, Prince [[Carol I of Romania|Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]], was proclaimed Domnitor as Carol I of Romania on 20 April 1866. The election of a foreign prince with ties to an important princely house, legitimizing Romanian independence (which Carol came to do after the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878]]), had been one of the liberal aims in the revolution of 1848.

Despite the participation of [[Ion Brătianu]] and other future leaders of the [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|Liberal Party]] in the overthrow of Cuza, he remained a hero to the [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]] and [[Republicanism|republican]] wing, who, as [[Francophile]]s, had an additional reason to oppose a [[Prussia]]n monarch. There were anti-Carol riots in Bucharest during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (''see [[History of Bucharest]]'') and a coup attempt known as the [[Republic of Ploiești]] in August 1870. The conflict was eventually resolved by a compromise between Brătianu and Carol, with the appointment of a prolonged and influential Liberal cabinet.

Cuza spent the remainder of his life in exile, chiefly in Paris, Vienna, and [[Wiesbaden]],<ref name="EB1911"/> accompanied by his wife and his two sons. He died in [[Heidelberg]] on 15 May 1873. His remains were buried in his residence in Ruginoasa, but were moved to the [[Trei Ierarhi Monastery|Trei Ierarhi Cathedral]] in Iași after [[World War II]].

==References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211010736/http://www.ohiou.edu/~Chastain/ac/cuza.htm ''Cuza, Alexandru Ioan (1820–1870)''], by Gerald J. Bobango and Paul E. Michelson, at the Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions.

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Cuza]]|20 March|1820|15 May|1873}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=''Title created''}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Domnitor|Domnitor of Romania]]|years=5 February 1862 – 22 February 1866}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Carol I of Romania|Carol I]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Grigore Alexandru Ghica]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of rulers of Moldavia|Prince of Moldavia]]|years=24 January 1859 – 5 February 1862}}
{{s-aft|after=''Title abandoned''}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei|Barbu Știrbei]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of rulers of Wallachia|Prince of Wallachia]]|years=24 January 1859 – 5 February 1862}}
{{s-aft|after=''Title abandoned''}}
{{s-end}}

{{Heads of State of Romania}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuza, Alexander John}}
[[Category:1820 births]]
[[Category:1873 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century monarchs of Romania]]
[[Category:19th-century princes of Wallachia]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Moldavia]]
[[Category:People from Bârlad]]
[[Category:Romanian people of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:People of the Revolutions of 1848]]
[[Category:Liberalism in Romania]]
[[Category:Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Romanian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Leaders ousted by a coup]]
[[Category:Members of the Ad hoc Divans]]
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[[Category:Romanian independence activists]]
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