Prince Alexandru Sturdza (Александр Скарлатович Стурдза;

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

, 18 November 1791

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, 13 June 1854) was a Russian publicist and diplomat of Romanian origin. In his writings, he referred to himself with a French rendition of his name, Alexandre Stourdza.

Early life

Alexandru Sturdza was a member of the House of Sturdza, born in Jassy, in

, as son of Scarlat Sturdza, Governor of Bessarabia and Princess Ekaterina Mourousis, daughter of Constantine Mourouzis, Prince of Moldavia. Through his mother he was related to all Greek Phanariote families. Alexandru Sturdza was brother of Roxandra Edling-Sturdza and a cousin of Mihail Sturdza,

Prince of Moldavia This is a list of monarchs of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when it united with Wallachia, the other Danubian Principality, to form the modern-day state of ...

from 1834 to 1849. After his family fled Bessarabia in 1802 in order to avoid the repression from the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, he was educated in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Princess Lina Gourieff Gagarine by Winterhalter

Later life

He entered the Russian diplomatic service in 1809 and acted as secretary of

Ioannis Kapodistrias Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (; February 1776 –27 September 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias, was a Greek statesman who was one of the most distinguished politicians and diplomats of 19th-century Europe. Kapodistrias's ...

during the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

. Under this capacity, he drafted the first version of the treaty of the

Holy Alliance The Holy Alliance (; ), also called the Grand Alliance, was a coalition linking the absolute monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia, which was created after the final defeat of Napoleon at the behest of Emperor Alexander I of Rus ...

, from the penciled notes of the Czar Alexander I. Because of his Greek origins and his friendship with Ioannis Kapodistrias, he was a strong supporter of

Philhellenism Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron, Charles Nicolas Fabvier and Richard Church to a ...

before and during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

. Together with his sister Roxandra he sponsored philanthropic activities to help Greek war refugees.See also

Antonios Papadakis Antonios Papadakis (; 1810–1878) was a Greek merchant from Lassithi Plateau on the island of Crete. He left his entire huge fortune to the University of Athens which proclaimed him its greatest benefactor. Every year “Antonios Papadakis Schola ...

He retired in

in 1830, where he devoted himself to his literary works.

Personal life

In 1819 he settled at

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and married Elisabeth Hufeland, daughter of German physician Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland. They had one son and two daughters: * Prince Ionita Sandu Sturdza (b. 1820) * Princess Maria Sturdza (1821-1890) married Prince Eugen Gagarin and was progenitor of House of Gagarin-Sturdza. * Princess Olga Sturdza (d. 1895) married Prince Mikhail Aleksandrovich

Obolensky The House of Obolensky () is an ancient Russian princely family, claiming descent from the Olgovichi branch of the Rurik dynasty. History Their name is said to derive from the town of Obolensk in the Upper Oka Principalities near Moscow. ...

(1821-1886)

Works

Striving to develop a renovated form of

Orthodox Christianity 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-pag ...

and to promote it in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, he wrote ''Considérations sur la doctrine et l'esprit de l'Église orthodoxe'' (

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, 1816). His ''Mémoire sur l'état actuel de l'Allemagne'', written at the request of

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Alexander I during the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, was an attack on the German universities, repeated in ''Coup d'oeil sur les universites de l'Allemagne'' (

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, 1818). It aroused great indignation in Germany, which indignation has been attributed to the levity with which its author arraigned the German national character and branded the universities as hotbeds of the revolutionary spirit and atheism. His other important works are ''La Grèce'' in 1821 (Leipzig, 1822) and ''Oeuvres posthumes religieuses, historiques, philosophiques et litteraires'' (5 vols.,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 1858–1861).

Early life

Later life

Personal life

Works

Notes

Further reading