Bogdan Baltazar (22 September 1939 – 28 December 2012) was a leading

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 ...

n banker and the first spokesman of the Romanian government following the fall of the communist regime. He was also a significant financial and banking advisor.

Early life and education

Born in Bucharest on 22 September 1939, Baltazar studied mechanical engineering at the

Politehnica University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest () is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania founded in 1818.CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, in 1971. He received a Ph.D. in International relations from the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

in 1964.

Career

Baltazar worked in the ministry of foreign affairs as first diplomatic secretary and then as manager of the Africa division in the same ministry from 1971 to 1981. Then he left the ministry, but returned in 1990 and began to serve as general manager of the Northern and Southern America divisions. Next, he was named as spokesman for the

Romanian Prime Minister The prime minister of Romania (), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania (), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled ''President of the Council of Ministers'' (), when the term "Government" ...

Petre Roman Petre Roman (; born 22 July 1946) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his Third Roman cabinet, government was overthrown by the Mineriad, intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma ...

following the fall of communism in December 1989. His term lasted until 1991. During this period, Baltazar was described by journalists as full of humor and charm. From 1991 to 1996, he worked as a senior banking adviser and coordinator for the banking group for Romania in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1997, he was appointed vice president of the State Property Fund (FPS) and his term lasted until 1998. He was appointed director of the French-owned Romanian Bank for Development (BRD) in 1998 and served there until 2004. Later he led a consultancy firm, and worked as an economy analyst, focusing on Central European countries. On 18 April 2011, he was re-appointed director of BRD.

Personal life and death

Baltazar was married and had two children.. He died of cancer at in Bucharest on 28 December 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltazar, Bogdan 1939 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Romanian businesspeople 20th-century Romanian engineers 20th-century Romanian politicians 20th-century Romanian economists 21st-century Romanian economists Businesspeople from Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni University of Bucharest alumni CUNY Graduate Center alumni Mechanical engineers Romanian bankers Romanian civil servants Deaths from cancer in Romania