Constantine Mourouzis

Constantine Demetrius Mourouzis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Δημήτριος Μουρούζης, romanized: Konstantinos Demetrios Mourouzis, Romanian: Constantin Dimitrie Moruzi), (1730 – 1 May 1787) was a Phanariote Prince of Moldavia, and member of the Mourousis family. A remarkable polyglot, he spoke five languages: Greek, Latin, French, Arabic and Turkish.

Constantine Mourouzis
Prince of Moldavia
Reign12 October 1777 – 9 June 1782
PredecessorGrigore III Ghica
SuccessorAlexander I Mavrocordatos
Born1730
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
(now Istanbul, Turkey)
Died1 May 1787
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
(now Istanbul, Turkey)
HouseMourouzis family
ReligionOrthodox

In 1761, he became Grand Postelnic (foreign minister) in Moldavia, and soon after Dragoman of the Fleet (deputy minister) of the Ottoman Admiralty, and eventually Grand Dragoman. There are indications that he was politically involved in the dismissal and assassination of his predecessor, Grigore III Ghica, by the Porte.[1] Trusted by the Porte, he obtained the throne of Moldavia on October 12, 1770.

Mourouzis spent much of his time in Iaşi, supervising the gathering of agricultural resources demanded by the Porte, but also fought extravagant luxury and surrounded himself with scholars, paying particular attention to schools and founding scholarships. He was deposed on June 7, 1782, and exiled to the island of Tenedos. He returned in 1783, but died soon after.

Notes
  1. Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (eds.) (2007) "Moruzi. Constantin" Historical Dictionary of Moldova (2nd ed.) Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, USA, p. 250, ISBN 978-0-8108-5607-3


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