Alexandru II Ghica
Alexandru II Ghica ( May 1, 1795 - January 1862 ) was a Romanian politician .
Alexander X. was first governor of Little Wallachia , became gospodar or commander-in-chief of the militia in 1828 when the Russians moved into the country to stay there until 1834. On the recommendation of the Russian general and count Pavel Kisselev , he was appointed Gospodar of Wallachia by the Porte in March 1834 .
He began his administration with liberal measures and endeavored to awaken an independent people's life in the Danube principalities, which should emancipate itself from Turkish influence and from Russian guardianship; so he founded elementary schools and eased the peasant burdens as well as the serfdom of the gypsies.
Nonetheless, he was unable to satisfy the democratic or liberal left and finally in 1837 felt compelled to seek help against them in Saint Petersburg ; it was promised to him, but at the same time the independence of Wallachia in state and administrative affairs was tightened. The suppression of a revolutionary movement of the liberals (1840) and a conspiracy of the old boyars favored by the Russians brought about Ghica's fall. Russia, to which Ghica's energy seemed dangerous, caused Sultan Abdülmecid I to depose him in October 1842 and put the Russian candidate Gheorghe Bibescu in his place.
He then lived for several years in Northern Italy, until 1853 in Vienna, ruled Wallachia again as Kaimakam ( governor ) from 1856-1859 after the Crimean War and died in Italy in January 1862 without children.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ghica, Alexandru II |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ghika, Alexander X. (Meyers) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wallachian gospodar and Romanian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1, 1795 |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 1862 |