Constantin P. Olănescu (; 1845–May 14, 1928) was a

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n, later

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 politician. Descended from an old

Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...

n ''

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

'' family, his father Pană was also in politics. He was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and studied at the

École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

in Paris. Upon his return home, Olănescu was successively named head of public works for

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

(1869), department head at the Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works Ministry (1875),

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Brăila County Brăila County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, Brăila County had a population of 281,452 (172,533 people in urban areas and 108,919 people in rural ...

(1876), professor of elementary and applied mechanics at the School of Bridges, Roads and Mines (1878–1880), teacher at the silviculture school outside Bucharest (1884–1885) and deputy general director of ''

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) was the state railway carrier of Romania. The company was dissolved on 1 October 1998 by splitting into several successor companies. CFR as an entity existed from 1880, even though the first ra ...

'' railway (1883).Grigore and Șerbu, p. 143 A member of the Conservative Party (PC), he was first elected to the Assembly of Deputies in October 1888, and won a term in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1905. From early 1891 to late 1895, he served as Public Works Minister in the two successive PC cabinets of Ioan Emanoil Florescu and

Lascăr Catargiu Lascăr Catargiu ( or Lascăr Catargi; 1 November 1823 – ) was a Romanian conservative statesman born in Moldavia. He belonged to an ancient Wallachian family, one of whose members had been banished in the 17th century by Prince Matei Basarab, ...

. From July 1900 to February 1901, he served as

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

under the Conservatives'

Petre P. Carp Petre P. Carp (; also Petrache Carp, Francization, Francized ''Pierre Carp'', Ioana Pârvulescu"O adresă high-life", in ''România Literară'', Nr. 25/2010 occasionally ''Comte Carpe''; 28 Mircea Dumitriu"Petre P. Carp – un suflet, un caracter, ...

. This government proposed a series of measures to solve an ongoing financial crisis; its unpopular decisions provoked social tensions. A law on

distilled spirits Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. While the w ...

provoked outright revolt in eight counties, mainly in northern Oltenia and

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

. As minister, Olănescu was responsible for maintaining public order. Olănescu served two terms as President of the Assembly: from June 1899 to September 1900, and from March 1911 to October 1912.Giurescu, p. 414 During his time at the helm, important national-security and economic legislation was adopted. In the first period, these dealt with the

Gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

and the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. Among those approved in his second term were laws on reducing the cost of living, antitrust, tax relief for the urban poor, industry promotion,

mortmain Mortmain () is the perpetual, inalienable ownership of real estate by a corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition. Historically, the land owner usually would be the religious office of a church ...

and higher education.Grigore and Șerbu, p. 144 In the autumn of 1915, Olănescu belonged to the leadership of the Unionist Federation, an organization that advocated the entry of neutral Romania into World War I, in order to unite all ethnic Romanians into a single state. In August 1916, as a former Assembly president, he took part in a Crown Council meeting where he voted in favor of joining the war on the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

' side. In May 1918, he was among the Romanians living in Paris who signed a document denouncing the Treaty of Bucharest, through which Germany imposed a harsh peace on Romania.Grigore and Șerbu, pp. 144-45 He died in Bucharest ten years later.Grigore and Șerbu, p. 145

Notes

References

*Constantin Grigore and Miliana Șerbu,
Miniștrii de interne (1862–2007)
', Editura Ministerului Internelor și Reformei Administrative, Bucharest, 2007. * Dinu C. Giurescu, ''Dicționar biografic de istorie a României''. Bucharest: Editura Meronia, 2008, {{DEFAULTSORT:Olanescu, Constantin 1845 births 1928 deaths Politicians from Bucharest Nobility from Bucharest École Centrale Paris alumni Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918) politicians Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Ministers of public works of Romania Ministers of interior of Romania Academic staff of the Politehnica University of Bucharest Romanian schoolteachers Romanian civil servants Căile Ferate Române people Prefects of Romania