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{{Short description|Romanian statesman, mathematician, diplomat and politician (1816–1897)}}
{{for|the village in [[Ialomița County]]|Ciulnița}}
{{more footnotes|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Ion Ghica
|image        = Ion Ghica.jpg
|office       = 5th [[Prime Minister of Romania]]
|president    = 
|deputy       = 
|term_start   = 11 February 1866
|term_end     = 10 May 1866
|monarch      = [[Carol I of Romania|Carol I]]
|predecessor  = [[Nicolae Kretzulescu]]
|successor    = [[Lascăr Catargiu]]
|term_start2   = 15 July 1866
|term_end2     = 21 February 1867
|monarch2      = Carol I
|predecessor2  = Lascăr Catargiu
|successor2    = [[Constantin A. Kretzulescu]]
|term_start3  = 18 December 1870
|term_end3    = 11 March 1871
|monarch3     = Carol I
|predecessor3 = [[Manolache Costache Epureanu]]
|successor3   = Lascăr Catargiu
|office4      = [[Prince of Samos]]
|term_start4  = 1854
|term_end4    = 1859
|predecessor4 = [[Alexandros Kallimachis]]
|successor4   = [[Miltiadis Aristarchis]]
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1816|8|12|df=y}}
|birth_place  = [[Bucharest]], [[Wallachia]]
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1897|5|7|1816|8|12|df=y}}
|death_place  = [[Ghergani]], [[Dâmbovița County]], [[Kingdom of Romania]]
|party        = [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|National Liberal Party]]
|profession   = {{hlist|Statesman|diplomat|matematician|politician}}
| spouse      = Alexandrina Mavros
|relatives    = [[Pantazi Ghica]]
|alma_mater   = [[Mines Paris – PSL]]
}}

'''Ion Ghica''' ({{IPA|ro|iˈon ˈɡika|-|Ro-Ion Ghica.ogg}};&nbsp; {{OldStyleDate|24 August|1816|12 August}} – {{OldStyleDate|19 May|1897|7 May}}) was a Romanian statesman, mathematician, diplomat, and politician, who served as [[Prime Minister of Romania]] five times.<ref>Three times after 1862 and twice between 1859 and 1862, when the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia had two parallel governments despite being a single vassal state.</ref> He was a full [[List of members of the Romanian Academy|member of the Romanian Academy]] and its president on several occasions (1876–1882, 1884–1887, 1890–1893, and 1894–1895). He was the older brother and associate of [[Pantazi Ghica]], a prolific writer and politician.

==Early life and Revolution==
[[Image:Ion Ghica - Foto01.jpg|thumb|130px|left]]

He was born in [[Bucharest]], [[Wallachia]], to the prominent [[Ghica family|Ghica]] [[boyar]] family, and was the nephew of both [[Grigore Alexandru Ghica]] (who was to become [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Prince]] of Wallachia in the 1840s and 1850s) and [[Ion Câmpineanu]], a ''[[Carbonari]]''-inspired [[Radicalism (historical)|radical]]. His father was Dimitrie (Tache) Ghica and his mother – Maria née Câmpineanu. 
Ion Ghica was educated in Bucharest and in Western Europe, studying engineering and mathematics in [[Mines Paris – PSL|Mine School of Paris]] (France) from 1837 to 1840.{{sfn|Gaster|1911}}

After finishing his studies in Paris, he left for [[Moldavia]] and was involved in the failed ''Frăția'' ("Brotherhood") conspiracy of 1848, which was intended to bring about the union of Wallachia and Moldavia under one native Romanian leader, [[Mihai Sturdza|Prince Mihai Sturdza]].{{sfn|Gaster|1911}} Ion Ghica became a professor on geology and mineralogy  and later professor on political economy<ref>Anastasie Iordache, ''Ion Ghica diplomatul şi omul politic''. Editura MAJADAHONDA, București, 1995,  p. 25, {{ISBN|973-96726-2-0}}</ref> at the [[Academia Mihăileană]] which was founded by the same Prince Sturdza in [[Iași]] (future [[University of Iași]]). He is considered the first great Romanian economist.

He joined the [[1848 Wallachian Revolution|Wallachian revolutionary]] camp, and, in the name of the [[Provisional Government]] then established in Bucharest, went to [[Istanbul]] to approach the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Imperial]] government;{{sfn|Gaster|1911}} he, [[Nicolae Bălcescu]], and General [[Gheorghe Magheru]] were instrumental in mediating negotiations between the [[Transylvania]]n Romanian leader [[Avram Iancu]] and the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas#Revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary|Revolutionary government]] of [[Lajos Kossuth]].

==Prince of Samos==

While in Istanbul, he was appointed Bey (governor) of [[Samos]] (1854–1859), where he proved his leadership skills by extirpating local [[Pirate|piracy]]{{sfn|Gaster|1911}} (most of which was aimed at transports supplying the [[Crimean War]]). After completing the task, Ghica was awarded the honorary title of ''Bey of Samos'' by [[Ottoman Dynasty|Sultan]] [[Abd-ul-Mejid I]] in 1856.

==Political career in Romania==
[[Image:Ion Ghica 02.jpg|thumb|130px|left]]
In 1859, after the [[United Principalities|union of Moldavia and Walachia]] had been effected, [[Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza]] asked Ion Ghica to return.{{sfn|Gaster|1911}} Later (1866), despite being trusted by Prince Cuza, Ghica took active part in the secret grouping that secured Cuza's overthrow.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} He was the first prime minister under Prince of Romania (afterwards [[King of Romania]]) [[Carol I of Romania|Carol of Hohenzollern]].{{sfn|Gaster|1911}}
[[File:Strălucite padișahŭ, massala a Profetuluĭ, Ghimpele, 25 sept 1866.png|thumb|Caricature in the {{ill|Ghimpele|ro}} magazine, 25 September 1866, showing the former Bey of Samos bowing to Romania's Ottoman suzerain [[Abdulaziz]], saying: "O enlightened [[padishah]], [[mashallah]] of the Prophet, great benefactor of my humble self, how could I show you my gratitude if not by deposing my compatriots' rights at your Majesty's feet? Have mercy, my Exalted Padishah!"]]
In 1866, Ghica became the first chairman of the newly established [[Bank of Romania]].<ref>{{cite web |website=Agrepres |author=Ruxandra Bratu |date={{date|2021/02/17}} |title=#Anul 1866 în istoria României: Începe să funcţioneze Banca României, devenită ulterior Bank of Roumania Ltd. |url=https://www.agerpres.ro/documentare/2021/02/17/anul-1866-in-istoria-romaniei-incepe-sa-functioneze-banca-romaniei-devenita-ulterior-bank-of-roumania-ltd--662719 |access-date=2022-09-03 |archive-date=2022-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220903095138/https://www.agerpres.ro/documentare/2021/02/17/anul-1866-in-istoria-romaniei-incepe-sa-functioneze-banca-romaniei-devenita-ulterior-bank-of-roumania-ltd--662719 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He is also noted as one of the first major [[Liberalism in Romania|Liberal]] figures in the [[Kingdom of Romania]], and one of the leaders of the incipient [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|Liberal Party]]. His group's [[Radicalism (historical)|radicalism]], with its boyar leadership that had engineered the defunct Revolution, surfaced as [[republicanism]] whenever Carol approached the [[Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918)|Conservatives]]; Ghica joined the anti-dynastic movement of 1870–1871 that had surfaced with the [[Republic of Ploiești]]. The matter of the Liberals' loyalty was ultimately settled 1876, with the exceptionally long Liberal Ministry of [[Ion Brătianu]]. In 1881, Ghica was appointed Romanian [[Diplomatic rank|Minister]] in London, an office he retained until 1889; he died in [[Ghergani]], [[Dâmbovița County]].

Furthermore, Ghica was a member of the [[Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://dinitrandu.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Un-veac-de-poezie-aromana.pdf|title=Un veac de poezie aromână|first=Hristu|last=Cândroveanu|author-link=Hristu Cândroveanu|editor-first=Kira|editor-last=Iorgoveanu|editor-link=Kira Mantsu|publisher=[[Cartea Românească]]|page=12|year=1985|language=ro}}</ref>

==Works==
Beside his political distinction, Ion Ghica earned a literary reputation by writing his ''Letters'', addressed to [[Vasile Alecsandri]], 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.{{sfn|Gaster|1911}}

He was also the author of ''Amintiri din pribegie'' ("Recollections from Exile"), in 1848, and of ''Convorbiri Economice'' ("Conversations on Economics"), 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]]{{sfn|Gaster|1911}} (a characteristic of the Liberal Party throughout the coming period, and until [[World War II]]).

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ghica |volume=11 |page=922 |first=Moses|last=Gaster|author-link=Moses Gaster}}
*{{citation
  | last1 = Mamina
  | first1 = Ion
  | last2 = Bulei
  | first2 = Ion
  | year = 1994
  | title = Guverne și guvernanți (1866–1916)
  | publisher = Silex Publishing
  | place = București
  | pages=
  |language=ro}}
*{{citation
  | last = Neagoe
  | first = Stelian
  | year = 1995
  | title = Istoria guvernelor României de la începuturi – 1859 până în zilele noastre – 1995
  | publisher = Machiavelli Publishing
  | place = București
  | page=
  |language=ro}}
{{Commons category|Ion Ghica}}
{{Wikisourcelang|ro|Author:Ion Ghica|Ion Ghica (original works in Romanian)}}

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{{s-end}}
{{RomanianPrimeMinisters}}
{{RomanianInteriorMinisters}}
{{RomanianForeignMinisters}}
{{Princes of Samos}}
{{Barbu Catargiu Cabinet}}
{{First Lascăr Catargiu Cabinet}}
{{Romanian Academy presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghica, Ion}}
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1897 deaths]]
[[Category:Chairpersons of the National Theatre Bucharest]]
[[Category:Ghica family|Ion]]
[[Category:National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians]]
[[Category:Political people from the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bucharest]]
[[Category:Organizers of the Wallachian Revolution of 1848]]
[[Category:Romanian people of the Crimean War]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Romanian Academy]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Romania]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Romania]]
[[Category:Ministers of interior of Romania]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Romania to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:19th-century Romanian economists]]
[[Category:Scientists from the Principality of Wallachia]]
[[Category:Romanian essayists]]
[[Category:Romanian mathematicians]]
[[Category:Romanian memoirists]]
[[Category:Romanian sociologists]]
[[Category:Princes of Samos]]
[[Category:19th-century governors of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century Romanian memoirists]]
[[Category:Members of the Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society]]