
Costache Negri (May 14, 1812 – September 28, 1876) was a
Moldavian, later
Romanian writer, politician, and revolutionary.
Born in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
, he was the son of ''vistiernic'' (treasurer) Petrache Negre. The scion of a
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
family, he was educated at home, and then at the French boarding schools of Mouton in Iași and Repey in
Odesa. In 1832 he was sent to pursue his studies in
Austria,
Germany,
France, and
Italy. During his stay in Paris he befriended
Vasile Alecsandri,
Ion Ghica, and
Nicolae Bălcescu. Upon returning home, he established in 1841 a literary cenacle at his estate in
Mânjina, which became a center of political activism of unionists from
Moldavia and
Wallachia. The outbreak of the
French Revolution of 1848
The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...
found Negri in Paris, where he volunteered for action in the revolutionary guards. He then participated in the of May 1848.
After the revolution in Iași, being forbidden to enter Moldavia, he left for
Brașov, where he took part in the development of a new revolutionary program. On , he signed in Brașov, together with other Moldavian revolutionaries, the pamphlet "Our principles for the reformation of the homeland", in which they demanded the union of Moldavia and Wallachia in an independent state and land reform. Arriving then in
Cernăuti,
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
, he was elected head of the Moldavian Revolutionary Committee, established on June 9, 1848 by the exiled Moldavian revolutionaries, including
Alexandru Ioan Cuza. After refusing, a year later, Bălcescu's proposal to be the head of Romanian emigration abroad, Negri was appointed in 1851 ''pârcălab'' (
burgrave) for
Covurlui County, and in 1854 head of the Department of Public Works, a capacity in which he pleaded, in
Vienna and
Constantinople, the cause of the
Romanian Principalities and their right to autonomy. He joined the Union Committee from Iași in 1856, then the Electoral Committee of the Union in February 1857), and was elected deputy for
Galați
Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...
on September 22, 1857, then vice president of the ad hoc Assembly of Moldavia on October 4, 1857. In 1859, Cuza became the first ''
domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as
prince of Moldavia
This is a list of rulers 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 ...
on 5 January 1859 and
prince of Wallachia on 24 January 1859, which resulted in
the unification of both states. Negri remained a collaborator and a close adviser of Cuza, especially in foreign policy issues; sent again to Constantinople as a diplomat, he contributed to the recognition by the great powers of the double election of Cuza, and therefore of the Union.

Encouraged by Alecsandri, Negri starting writing — poems, fables, and prose. He debuted in 1844 with ''Veneția'', a text published in '. He also wrote for ''
România Literară'' and ''
Steaua Dunării
Steaua Dunării (''Danube's Star'') was a political newspaper and a unionist mouthpiece founded in October 1855 by Mihail Kogălniceanu. Editors like V. A. Urechia, Vasile-Urechea Avexandrescu, Vasile Mălinescu, Iancu M. Codrescu and collaborators ...
''; some of his poems appeared posthumously in ''Revista Nouă''.
He died in
Târgu Ocna, at age 64. His is in the churchyard of the old in Târgu Ocna. Mânjina, the village where his estate was located, was renamed in the 1920s
Costache Negri. In 1943, his manor was declared a historical monument and was converted into a .
Streets in
Bucharest,
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
, Iași, and
Pitești
Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in the historical re ...
bear his name; high schools in Galați and Târgu Ocna are also named after him.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Negri, Costache
1812 births
1876 deaths
Writers from Iași
Politicians from Iași
People of the Revolutions of 1848
Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania)
Diplomats from Iași