Alexandru Ioan Cuza

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Alexandru Ioan Cuza
Photograph by Carol Szathmari, 1859
Domnitor of Romania
Reign	5 February 1862 – 23 February 1866
Predecessor	Himself as Prince of Moldavia and Wallachia
Successor	Carol I
Prince of Moldavia
Reign	5 January 1859 – 5 February 1862
Predecessor	Grigore Alexandru Ghica
Successor	Himself as Domnitor of Romania
Prince of Wallachia
Reign	24 January 1859 – 5 February 1862
Predecessor	Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei
Successor	Himself as Domnitor of Romania
Born	(1820-03-20)20 March 1820 Bârlad, Moldavia
Died	15 May 1873(1873-05-15) (aged 53) Heidelberg, Baden, Germany
Burial	Three Holy Hierarchs Church, Iași
Spouse	Elena Rosetti
Issue	Sașa Cuza Dimitrie Cuza
House	Cuza
Father	Ioan Cuza
Mother	Sultana Cozadini
Religion	Eastern Orthodoxy
Signature

Alexandru Ioan Cuza (pronounced [alekˈsandru iˈo̯aŋ ˈkuza] ^ⓘ, or Alexandru Ioan I, also Anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first domnitor (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as Prince of Moldavia on 5 January 1859 and Prince of Wallachia on 24 January 1859, which resulted in 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 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 Romanian Principalities officially adopted the name Romanian United Principalities with a single capital at Bucharest, a single national assembly and a single government.

Alexandru'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.^[1][2]