Ion Ionescu de la Brad (June 24, 1818 – December 16, 1891), born Ion Isăcescu, was a

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

n, later

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n revolutionary,

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

, statistician, scholar, and writer. Born in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, he was the son of a Moldavian

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

priest. Ionescu was educated in Iași, at the Trei Ierarhi school, and then at the Academia Mihăileană, where he studied with Eftimie Murgu. He pursued his studies at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, where he specialized in agrarian economics. In 1842, he became a professor of agronomy at the

Academia Mihăileană Academia Mihăileană was an institution of higher learning based in Iași, Moldavia, and active in the first part of the 19th century. Like other Eastern European institutions of its kind, it was both a high school and a higher learning institute ...

in Iași, collaborated with the nationalists associated with the journal ''Propășirea'' (1844), and, with

Nicolae Bălcescu Nicolae Bălcescu () (29 June 181929 November 1852) was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution. Early life Born in Bucharest to a family of low-ranking nobility, he used his mother' ...

, became a principal advocate of land reform in the Danubian Principalities. Following the idea of the British diplomat

David Urquhart David Urquhart Jr. (1 July 180516 May 1877) was a Scottish diplomat, writer and politician, serving as a Member of Parliament from 1847 to 1852. He also was an early promotor of the Turkish bath in the United Kingdom. Early life Urquhart was bo ...

, in 1844 Ionescu developed and supported the proposal for the building of an artificial

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

across the Ottoman province of

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

, located between the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

(

Port of Constanța The Port of Constanța is located in Constanța, Romania, on the western coast of the Black Sea, from the Bosphorus Strait and from the Sulina Branch, through which the Danube river flows into the sea. It covers , of which is land and the res ...

). His proposal aimed to support the transportation of the increasing cereal production of the Danubian Principalities toward the seaport of Kustendje (today Constanța in

) for the mutual profit of the Romanian grain producers and Ottoman (mainly

Ottoman Greeks Ottoman Greeks ( el, Ρωμιοί; tr, Osmanlı Rumları) were ethnic Greeks who lived in the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922), much of which is in modern Turkey. Ottoman Greeks were Greek Orthodox Christians who belonged to the Rum Millet (''Millet ...

and

Ottoman Armenians Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (or Ottoman Armenians) mostly belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian Catholic Church. They were part of the Armenian millet until the Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century equa ...

) and foreign merchants. The

Danube–Black Sea Canal The Danube–Black Sea Canal ( ro, Canalul Dunăre–Marea Neagră) is a navigable canal in Romania, which runs from Cernavodă on the Danube river, via two branches, to Constanța and Năvodari on the Black Sea. Administered from Agigea, it ...

and its additional waterworks where completed only in 1987. Following the failure of the short-lived Moldavian movement in 1848, Ionescu joined Bălcescu in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

as a participant in the unsuccessful revolution in

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

. He served as leader of the radical faction in the commission established to handle

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

. After the defeat of the Wallachian revolution in September, 1848, Ionescu went into exile in the Ottoman Empire. Returning to Moldavia in 1857, he was extremely active as an administrator, deputy, and professor after the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia (in 1859–1861) in agrarian reform, agricultural education, and economic and statistical research. Ionescu de la Brad was a prolific scholar and writer on agricultural and economic topics, publishing over 40 books and pamphlets and nearly 400 articles. In 1884 he was elected honorary member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

. He died in 1891 in

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

; a memorial house is now located in that village.

References

Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică (born Gheorghe Bogdan; –September 21, 1934) was an Imperial Austrian-born Romanian literary critic. The son of a poor merchant family from Brașov, he attended several universities before launching a career as a critic, f ...

, ''Vieața și opera întâiului țărănist român. Ion Ionescu de la Brad (1818-1891)'', Craiova, 1922. * A. Vasiliu, ''Ion Ionescu de la Brad'',

, 1967. * C. Sandu-Ville, et al., ''In memoriam: Ion Ionescu de la Brad, 1818-1891'',

, 1971.
Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions: Ion Ionescu de la Brad
*

*
"Ion Ionescu de la Brad - economist și agronom"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ionescu de la Brad, Ion 1818 births 1891 deaths People from Roman, Romania University of Paris alumni Academic staff of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Romanian essayists Romanian revolutionaries People of the Revolutions of 1848 Romanian agronomists Romanian statisticians Honorary members of the Romanian Academy Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church

See also

References