- Alexandru Sturdza
Alexandru Sturdza (
Iaşi 1791-Odessa 1854) was a Russian publicist and diplomat of Romanian origin. In his writings, he referred to himself with a French rendition of his name, "Alexandre Stourdza".Life
Alexandru Sturdza was a member of the
Sturdza family , born in Jassy, inMoldavia , and related to the Greek Phanariote family of theMourousis through his mother. After his family fled Bessarabia in 1802 in order to avoid the repression from the Ottomans, he was educated in Russia.He entered the Russian diplomatic service in 1809 and acted as secretary of
Ioannis Kapodistrias during theCongress of Vienna . Under this capacity, he drafted the first version of the treaty of theHoly Alliance , from the penciled notes of the Czar Alexander I. Because of his Greek origins and his friendship with Ioannis Kapodistrias, he was a strong supporterPhilhellenism before and during theGreek War of Independence , and sponsored philanthropic activities to help Greek war refugees.He retired in
Odessa in 1830, where he devoted himself to his literary works.Alexandru Sturdza was brother of
Roxandra Edling-Sturdza . He was cousin ofMihail Sturdza , prince of Moldavia from 1834 to 1849.Works
Striving to develop a renovated form of Orthodox Christianity and to promote it in
Western Europe , he wrote "Considérations sur la doctrine et l’esprit de l’Église orthodoxe" (Stuttgart , 1816).His "Mémoire sur l'état actuel de l'Allemagne", written at the request of
Tsar Alexander I during the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, was an attack on the German universities, repeated in "Coup d'oeil sur les universites de l'Allemagne" (Aachen , 1818). His other important works are "La Grèce" in 1821 (Leipzig, 1822) and "Oeuvres posthumes religieuses, historiques, philosophiques et litteraires" (5 vols.,Paris , 1858-1861).References
* Ghervas, Stella. "Alexandre Stourdza (1791-1854). Un intellectuel orthodoxe face à l'Occident." Genève, Ed. Suzanne Hurter, 1999. ISBN 2-940031-66-5
* Ghervas, Stella. "Réinventer la tradition. Alexandre Stourdza et l'Europe de la Sainte-Alliance." Paris, Honoré Champion, 2008. ISBN 978-2-7453-1669-1
*1911
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