Barbu Bellu (1825–1900) was a

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

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

minister of culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

, and

minister of justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

, the most famous cemetery in Romania, sits on a plot of land donated by Barbu Bellu to the local administration. A member of the , of Aromanian origin, he was born in Bucharest. He studied at home and then in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

around the year 1843. In 1850, he became a judge of the

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...

courthouse and in 1852, the presiding judge of the same courthouse. He was a prosecutor at

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipiu, city in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș (river), Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass ...

in 1856 and starting 1859, a judge at the Romanian High Court of Justice. In 1862, Barbu Bellu was named the minister of culture, but he resigned in June after Prime Minister

Barbu Catargiu Barbu Catargiu (; 26 October 1807 – ) was a conservative Romanian politician and journalist. He was the first Prime Minister of Romania, in 1862, until he was assassinated on 20 June that year. He was a staunch defender of the great estates o ...

, his cousin, was assassinated. In 1863, he was the Minister of Justice in the Kretzulescu cabinet for one month. He was a Member of Parliament, representing

Muscel County Muscel County is a former first-order administrative district of Romania. It was located in the southern central part of Greater Romania, in the northwestern part of the historic region of Muntenia. Its territory is now mostly part of Argeș County ...

in 1859, 1861, and 1864. In 1866, Austrian Emperor

Franz Josef Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

gave him the title of baron. After

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, 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 List of monarchs of Moldavia ...

abdicated, Barbu Bellu retired from public life. In the fall of 1889 he drove around Bucharest in a 4-seat, 4-hp

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

automobile that could reach a speed of ; it is said that he was the first one to drive a car in Romania. When he died in 1900, the newspapers wrote, ''Se stinse Baronul Bellu, cel cu automobelu'' ("Baron Bellu, the one with an automobellu, has died"). He was buried in the cemetery that bears his name.

Notes

References

*Dimitrie R. Rosetti (1897) ''Dicționarul contimporanilor'', Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara". {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellu, Barbu 1825 births 1900 deaths 19th-century people from the Principality of Wallachia Nobility from Bucharest Romanian people of Aromanian descent Ministers of culture of Romania Ministers of justice of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian prosecutors 19th-century Romanian judges Burials at Bellu Cemetery