Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (; born 24 October 1943) is a Romanian politician who was

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

from September 1991 to November 1992. An economist by training, he was also one of the presidents of the National Liberal Party (PNL) before being the founding leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) and then the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL). He was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for

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 ...

, representing the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and then the National Liberal Party (PNL; both EPP-ED-affiliated). He was also

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the Transilvania University of Brașov between 2002 and 2012.

Career

Before the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

, Stolojan worked at the Committee for State Planning, together with

Nicolae Văcăroiu Nicolae Văcăroiu (; born 5 December 1943) is a Romanian politician, member of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD), who served as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister between 1992 and 1996. Before the Rom ...

, who subsequently became President 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 ...

between 20 December 2000 and 14 October 2008. During the rule of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

, he worked at the Ministry of Finances between 1972 and 1977 as an economist in the State Budget Department, then between 1978 and 1982 as Chief of Accountancy of State Budget and then as deputy director of the Department for Foreign Exchange and International Financial Relations until the

. He was the Prime minister of Romania from September 1991 to November 1992, then worked for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and for a Romanian private company. In 1992, the Stolojan government began an austerity plan, limiting wages and further liberalising prices. The economic situation deteriorated and inflation as well as

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

increased substantially. After his term ended, he worked at the

. In 2000, he re-entered politics as a member of the National Liberal Party (PNL); he ran for the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

of Romania in the November 2000 elections, but came in third, behind

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...

and Corneliu Vadim Tudor. He was named president of the PNL in August 2002. In 2003, his party approached the Democratic Party leader

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, ...

, at that time the mayor of

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 initiated an alliance named "''D.A. - Dreptate şi Adevăr''" ( Justice and Truth Alliance). In February 2004, he was chosen as the alliance's candidate in the Romanian presidential election of November 2004. On 2 October 2004, Stolojan surprisingly stepped down from the leadership of the PNL and also withdrew from the presidential race. He cited serious health problems as a reason for his decision. Stolojan became a senior advisor to Băsescu after the latter was inaugurated as president on 20 December 2004. On 10 October 2006, Stolojan was expelled from the PNL, and in December he formed a new party, the Liberal Democrats (PLD), whose president he was elected at the first PLD congress on 31 March 2007. In January 2008, the PLD merged with the Democratic Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), of which Stolojan was then a member. The PDL won the most seats in the 2008 election, and on 10 December 2008, Stolojan was designated prime minister of Romania by President

. Five days later, he withdrew his acceptance, saying he was stepping down in favour of a younger candidate;

Emil Boc Emil Boc (; born 6 September 1966) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in J ...

was then selected.

Personal life

He and his wife Elena have a son, Vlad Stolojan, and a daughter, Ada Palea.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stolojan, Theodor 1943 births Academic staff of the Transilvania University of Brașov Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni Candidates for President of Romania Chairpersons of the National Liberal Party (Romania) Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) MEPs Living people MEPs for Romania 2007–2009 MEPs for Romania 2009–2014 People from Târgoviște Prime ministers of Romania Romanian economists Ministers of finance of Romania Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Romanian presidential advisors MEPs for Romania 2014–2019 National Salvation Front (Romania) politicians Romanian Communist Party politicians World Bank people