Prince Mihai Dimitrie Sturdza, historian and diplomat, dies in Paris, aged 86

Prince Mihai Dimitrie Sturdza, historian and diplomat, died in Paris at the age of 86, Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) Director General Filip-Lucian Iorga-Barbulescu announced on Saturday evening on his Facebook page. Diplomat and historian Mihai Dimitrie Sturdza is the great-grandson of Mihail Sturdza, ruler of Moldavia (1834-1849), and a descendant of the Manu family, who gave General Gheorghe Manu, a hero of the War of Independence, prime minister and mayor of Bucharest. Mihai Dimitrie Sturdza was born in 1934, attending primary and high school in Iasi and Bucharest. In 1952 he was arrested by the communist regime, on charges of not denouncing conspiracy, being sentenced to an administrative punishment executed in various labor camps. Released in 1954, he managed to enroll with the Faculty of Philology of the University of Bucharest, which he graduated in 1960. He left the country in 1963, settling in Paris. He graduated from the Institute of Political Science in Paris and was employed, between 1968 and 1985, at the Department of Cultural and Scientific Exchanges of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was official interpreter for the Romanian language of the presidents of France, General Charles de Gaulle and Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Between 1986 and 1995 he worked as a political editor at the Romanian Department of the 'Free Europe' radio station in Munich. At the end of the contract, he is awarded a congratulatory letter signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton. An historian by vocation, Mihai Dimitrie Sturdza is the author of an impressive work, covering fields such as heraldry, genealogy, the history of noble families in Southeast Europe, the international status of Romanian provinces, Romanian-Russian relations, the history of culture. His studies and volumes have appeared in prestigious periodicals and publishing houses in Paris, Munich, Bucharest and Iasi. AGERPRES (RO - author: Marius Fratila, editor: Catalin Alexandru; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)