Emil Costinescu (March 12, 1844–July 6, 1921) 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 ...

n economist, businessman and politician. Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, Costinescu was the self-taught son of the architect and engineer , professor at the

Academia Mihăileană was an institution of higher learning based in Iași, Moldavia, and active in the first part of the 19th century. Like other Eastern European institutions of its kind, it was both a high school and a higher learning institute, housing several fa ...

and later the director of the School of Bridges and Roads, Mines and Architecture 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 ...

. He was influenced by the reformist ideals of the time in which he was growing up, as expounded by figures such as

C. A. Rosetti Constantin Alexandru Rosetti (; 2 June 1816 – 8 April 1885) was a Romanian literary and political leader, born in Bucharest into the princely Rosetti family. Biography Before 1848 Constantin Alexandru Rosetti was born in Bucharest, the ...

Cezar Bolliac Cezar Bolliac or Boliac, Boliak (23 March 1813 – 25 February 1881) was a Wallachian and Romanian radical political figure, amateur archaeologist, journalist and Romantic poet. Life Early life Born in Bucharest as the son of Anton Bogliako ...

and

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian Liberalism, liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on Octo ...

. In 1862, he was hired as proofreader at Rosetti's ''

Românul ''Românul'' (, meaning "The Romanian"; originally spelled ''Romanulu'' or ''Românulŭ'', also known as ''Romînul'', ''Concordia'', ''Libertatea'' and ''Consciinti'a Nationala''), was a political and literary newspaper published in Bucharest, Ro ...

''. He advanced to editor in 1866 and led the newspaper during the founder's exile. A member of the National Liberal Party,Wojciech Roszkowski and Jan Kofman, ''Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 1925-26. Abingdon-on-Thames: Taylor & Francis, 2016, he was first elected to 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 ...

in 1876, and in 1880 was a co-founder of the

National Bank of Romania The National Bank of Romania (, BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of Bucharest. The National Bank of Romania is responsible for the issue of the Romanian le ...

.Ionel Maftei, ''Personalități ieșene'', vol. II, pp. 97-8. Iași: Comitetul de cultură și educație socialistă al județului Iași, 1972 In 1897, he became the founding president of the General Bank of Bucharest, one of the country's largest.

Dimitrie Rosetti Dimitrie is the Romanian form of a Slavic given name. Notable persons with that name include: ;First name * Dimitrie Alexandresco (1850–1925), Romanian encyclopedist * Dimitrie Anghel (1872–1914), Romanian poet * Dimitri Atanasescu (1836–190 ...

, ''Dicționarul Contimporanilor'', p. 57. Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara", Bucharest, 1897 He opened a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after ...

, and sat on the board of a petroleum company. Costinescu was Finance Minister three times: July 1902-December 1904, March 1907-December 1910 and January 1914-December 1916.Sabina Cantacuzino (ed. Elisabeta Simion), ''Din viața familiei Ion C. Brătianu'', vol. II, p. 314. Bucharest: Editura Albatros, 1996 An economic protectionist, he supported a customs tariff in the belief that it would spur the development of domestic industry. Introduced in 1904, this measure lasted until 1924. Also, as early as 1887, he spoke in favor of an income tax. In late 1909, he introduced a bill in parliament that would have established such a tax; the proposal failed. At the end of his third term, in the midst of World War I, he was involved in the decision to send the

Romanian Treasure The Romanian Treasure () is a collection of valuable objects and the gold reserves (~120 tonnes) that the Romanian government sent to Tsarist Russia for safekeeping during World War I, with the aim of being sheltered from the armies of the Centr ...

to Russia for safekeeping. Costinescu remained in the wartime government as Minister without portfolio from December 1916 to July 1917. After the war, he took part in the Romanian delegation to the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

as a financial expert. The

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

resort of

Costinești Costinești is a commune and resort in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania, located on the shore of the Black Sea, about south of the county seat, Constanța. It consists of two villages: Costinești and Schitu. Etymology Costinești ...

is named after Costinescu, who purchased a 200-hectare estate from

Vasile Kogălniceanu Vasile is a male Romanian given name or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Basil which is of Greek origin and means "King". It is also used by the Megleno-Romanians. As a given name As a surname *Cristian Vasile (1908–1985), Ro ...

. He found an arid, treeless landscape, inviting German colonists to settle and work the land.Gheorghe Andronic, ''Litoralul românesc al Mării Negre'', p. 88. Bucharest: Editura Sport-Turism, 1989

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costinescu, Emil 1844 births 1921 deaths People from Iași Romanian newspaper editors Romanian bankers Romanian businesspeople in timber National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Ministers of finance of Romania