Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei

Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei, also written as Stirbey, (1799 in Craiova – April 13, 1869 in Nice), a member of the Bibescu boyar family, was a Prince of Wallachia on two occasions, between 1848–1853 and between 1854–1856.

Born to Dumitrache Bibescu and his wife, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, the last of the Ştirbei family who left him heir to his wealth and family name.

He studied philosophy and law in Paris, at the beginning of Louis XVIII's reign, in 1815. After the return in Wallachia, in 1821 he took refuge in Braşov, Transylvania (part of the Austrian Empire at the time) from the Wallachian uprising of 1821. He married Elisabeta Știrbey in 1821.

In 1825, he returned to Bucharest and took on several offices with the administration of Grigore IV Ghica. After Wallachia was occupied by Imperial Russia following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, general Pavel Kiseleff promoted him to the central government, where he served as president of the Wallachian commission charged with drafting the Organic Regulation, the first form of constitutional law ever implemented in Wallachia.

In 1836, he was given the administration of the Justice Department, where he set up a new commercial code, based on the Napoleonic model, and improved the criminal and civil procedures. After Grigore IV Ghica was removed from the throne, Ştirbei was a candidate for the office in the only elections carried under the Regulations' provisions, but renounced his votes in favour of his brother, Gheorghe Bibescu.

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