Nicolae Iorga

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Nicolae Iorga
Iorga in 1938
34th Prime Minister of Romania
In office 19 April 1931 – 6 June 1932
Monarch	Carol II
Preceded by	Gheorghe Mironescu
Succeeded by	Alexandru Vaida-Voievod
President of the Senate of Romania
In office 9 June 1939 – 13 June 1939
Monarch	Carol II
Preceded by	Alexandru Lapedatu
Succeeded by	Constantin Argetoianu
President of the Assembly of Deputies
In office 9 December 1919 – 26 March 1920
Monarch	Ferdinand I
Preceded by	Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Succeeded by	Duiliu Zamfirescu
Member of the Crown Council
In office 30 March 1938 – 6 September 1940
Monarch	Carol II
Minister of Internal Affairs
Acting 18 April 1931 – 7 May 1931
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Ion Mihalache
Succeeded by	Constantin Argetoianu (Acting)
Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs
In office 18 April 1931 – 5 June 1932
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Nicolae Costăchescu
Succeeded by	Dimitrie Gusti
President of the Democratic Nationalist Party
In office 6 May 1910 – 16 December 1938 Serving with A. C. Cuza (until 26 April 1920)
Preceded by	None (co-founder)
Succeeded by	None (party formally banned under the 1938 Constitution)
Personal details
Born	(1871-01-17)17 January 1871 Botoșani, Principality of Romania
Died	27 November 1940(1940-11-27) (aged 69) Strejnic, Prahova County, Kingdom of Romania
Manner of death	Assassination by gunshots
Political party	Democratic Nationalist Party (1910–1938) National Renaissance Front (1938–1940)
Spouses	Maria Tasu ​ ​ (m. 1890; div. 1900)​ Ecaterina Bogdan ​ ​ (m. 1901⁠–⁠1940)​
Alma mater	Alexandru Ioan Cuza University École pratique des hautes études Leipzig University
Occupation	Writer, poet, professor, literary critic, politician
Profession	Historian, philosopher
Signature

Nicolae Iorga^{[alt 1][a]} (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian politician who held top posts, including prime minister and president of the Senate. He was also a historian, literary critic, memoirist, albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly, and cabinet minister. A child prodigy, polymath and polyglot, Iorga produced an unusually large body of scholarly works, establishing his international reputation as a medievalist, Byzantinist, Latinist, Slavist, art historian and philosopher of history. Holding teaching positions at the University of Bucharest, the University of Paris and several other academic institutions, Iorga was founder of the International Congress of Byzantine Studies and the Institute of South-East European Studies (ISSEE). His activity also included the transformation of Vălenii de Munte town into a cultural and academic center.

In parallel with his academic contributions, Nicolae Iorga was a prominent right-of-centre activist, whose political theory bridged conservatism, Romanian nationalism, and agrarianism. From Marxist beginnings, he switched sides and became a maverick disciple of the Junimea movement. Iorga later became a leadership figure at Sămănătorul, the influential literary magazine with populist leanings, and militated within the League for the Cultural Unity of All Romanians [ro], founding vocally conservative publications such as Neamul Românesc, Drum Drept, Cuget Clar and Floarea Darurilor. His support for the cause of ethnic Romanians in Austria-Hungary made him a prominent figure in the pro-Entente camp by the time of World War I, and ensured him a special political role during the interwar existence of Greater Romania. Initiator of large-scale campaigns to defend Romanian culture in front of perceived threats, Iorga sparked most controversy with his antisemitic rhetoric, and was for long an associate of the far-right ideologue A. C. Cuza. He was an adversary of the dominant National Liberals, later involved with the opposition Romanian National Party.

Later in his life, Iorga opposed the radically fascist Iron Guard, and, after much oscillation, came to endorse its rival King Carol II. Involved in a personal dispute with the Guard's leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, and indirectly contributing to his killing, Iorga was also a prominent figure in Carol's corporatist and authoritarian party, the National Renaissance Front. He remained an independent voice of opposition after the Guard inaugurated its own National Legionary dictatorship, but was ultimately assassinated by a Guardist commando.

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