Ioan Lazăr Kalinderu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 28, 1840 |
| Died | December 11, 1913 (aged 72) |
| Other names | Ioan Calenderoglu, Iancu Kalinderu, Ioan Kelenderu, Ioanŭ Calenderu, Jean Kalindéro, Un Paysan du Danube |
| Academic background | |
| Influences | Spiru Haret, Julius Kühn, Gabriel Millet |
| Academic work | |
| School or tradition | Agrarianism |
| Main interests | |
| Signature | |
.png) | |
Ioan Lazăr Kalinderu (born Calenderoglu,[1] also known as Iancu Kalinderu, Ioan Kelenderu, Ioanŭ Calenderu, or Jean Kalindéro;[2] December 28 or 29, 1840 – December 11, 1913) was a Wallachian, later Romanian jurist and confidant of King Carol I, who served for thirty years as the administrator of crown domains, and for three years as president of the Romanian Academy. Educated in France, he was the son of a rich and influential Greek-Romanian banker, Lazăr Kalenderoglu, and the brother of physician Nicolae Kalinderu. Like them, he was a sympathizer of the National Liberal Party, with which he debuted in politics in the 1880s.
Kalideru was an expert in Roman law, but his attempts in the field, as well as his later studies in the history of Ancient Rome, are generally seen as minor contributions. His overall competence as an interpreter of law was questioned following his handling of the Strousberg Affair, although he served on the Court of Cassation and on international bodies of experts. Kalinderu stayed on as Carol's legal adviser, also helping him in direct negotiations with the National Liberal and Conservative political machines, and was several times considered for the office of Prime Minister.
As administrator for the crown, Kalinderu enacted his vision of rural improvement, setting up model farms and a cottage industry, promoting literacy and the arts, and encouraging entrepreneurship. He viewed these methods as a working alternative to land reform, defending property rights during and after the peasants' revolt of 1907. He was praised for his passion and dedication, but also criticized for the uncertainty of their outcome. In addition to his agrarian project and his social work, Kalinderu played a significant part in promoting mountaineering and modern forestry, set up the resort of Bușteni, and created his own art museum. A picturesque figure with eccentric customs, and often regarded as snobbish and servile, he became a stock character for the writers and cartoonists at Furnica magazine. His unfulfilled promise to donate his fortune to the public bled into a posthumous scandal which lasted into the interwar years.
- ^ Nicolae Iorga, "Molière și Romînii. Comunicație comemorativă la Academia Romînă", in Revista Istorică, Nr. 1–3/1922, p. 5
- ^ Baiculescu et al., p. 793; Teodorescu et al, pp. 849–853