George Crin Laurențiu Antonescu (; born 21 September 1959) is a Romanian politician and history teacher who served as Acting

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

in 2012. He was also candidate in the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and 2025 presidential elections, finishing both in third place. Before and after his brief acting presidency, Antonescu was Member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

from 1992 to 2008, Minister of Youth and Sport from 1997 to 2000, Member of 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 ...

from 2008 to 2016, President of the National Liberal Party (PNL) from 2009 to 2014, as well as

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

from 2012 to 2014. Antonescu became Acting President of Romania on 10 July 2012, a few days after President

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

was suspended for a second time, and ended his term on 27 August the same year. He continued as President of the Senate until March 2014, after which he slowly withdrew from politics before unsuccessfully returning as the A.Ro candidate in the 2025 presidential election.

Early life and education

Antonescu was born in

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by #Names, alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 65,624 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. It is one ...

Tulcea County Tulcea County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube. Demographics In 2021, Tulcea Coun ...

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

. After his parents' divorce, he was raised by his father who encouraged him to attend the Faculty of History and Philosophy at 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 order to become a history teacher.

Professional career

Upon graduating in 1985, Crin Antonescu worked as a History teacher in the village of Solești,

Vaslui County Vaslui County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Western Moldavia, with the seat at Vaslui. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 395,499 and the population density was 74/km2. * Romanians - over 98% * Romani ...

. He later returned to Tulcea, continuing his teaching activity in Niculițel until 1989. Antonescu worked as a curator for the Tulcea Museum of History and Archaeology from 1989 to 1990, when he resumed his teaching activity at the "Spiru Haret" High School in

, prior to being elected to the

Political career

Upon joining the National Liberal Party (PNL), Antonescu helped organize the Tulcea branch of the party. In 1995, he was elected PNL Vice President and, subsequently, leader of the liberal politicians active in the

, holding that position for two non-consecutive mandates. During his activity in the

, he was a member of the Committee for Education, Youth, and Sports, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Committee of Culture, Arts, and Media. Antonescu was the Romanian Minister of Youth and Sports from 1997 to 2000. He initiated a series of reforms, the most prominent being the legal perpetuity for Romanian athletes with significant Olympic results. As of 20 March 2009, Antonescu was the President of the National Liberal Party (PNL), in addition to being the party's candidate for the 2009 presidential elections in Romania. In September 2009, Antonescu was situated third in Romanians' voting preferences for the 2009 Presidential elections. After President Traian Băsescu's suspension on 3 July 2012, he assumed acting Presidency of Romania. After the end of the ad interim term as

, Antonescu continued to serve as Senate President until the dissolution of USL, after which he resigned from this dignity. After 2014, he slowly but steadily withdrew from politics, resigning from his last remaining political position in late February 2015. Antonescu was selected as the presidential candidate for the 2025 presidential election by the incumbent minority government under the electoral pact Romania Forward Electoral Alliance. Antonescu placed third in the first round of voting on 4 May with 20.34% of the vote.

Personal life

Antonescu's first wife Aurelia committed suicide in 2004 due to an incurable disease. The two have a daughter, Irina, born in 2001. In June 2009, Antonescu announced he will get married again to party colleague Adina Vălean. The couple got married on 25 September 2009.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Notes

References

External links

*
CrinAntonescu.ro, official candidacy website
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonescu, Crin 1959 births Living people People from Tulcea Acting presidents of Romania Candidates for President of Romania Chairpersons of the National Liberal Party (Romania) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Presidents of the Senate of Romania National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Christians from Romania