Petre P. Carp

Petre P. Carp (Petrache Carp)
P. P. Carp (pre-1900 photograph)
Prime Minister of Romania
In office July 7, 1900 – February 13, 1901
Monarch	Carol I
Preceded by	Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino
Succeeded by	Dimitrie Sturdza
Constituency	Vaslui
Prime Minister of Romania
In office December 29, 1910 – March 28, 1912
Preceded by	Ion I. C. Brătianu
Succeeded by	Titu Maiorescu
Personal details
Born	June 28 (or 29), 1837 Iași
Died	June 19, 1919(1919-06-19) (aged 81) Țibănești
Nationality	Romanian
Political party	Junimea Conservative Party
Spouse(s)	Sevastia Cantacuzino
Religion	Romanian Orthodox

Petre P. Carp (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈpetre pe karp]; also Petrache Carp, Francized Pierre Carp, occasionally Comte Carpe; June 28 or 29, 1837 – June 19, 1919) was a Moldavian, later Romanian statesman, political scientist and culture critic, one of the major representatives of Romanian liberal conservatism, and twice the country's Prime Minister (1900–1901, 1910–1912). His youth was intertwined with the activity of Junimea club, which he co-founded with critic Titu Maiorescu as a literary society, and then helped transform it into a political club. He left behind a budding career as Junimea's polemicist and cultural journalist, joining the state bureaucracy of the United Principalities, the Romanian diplomatic corps, and ultimately electoral politics. A speaker for aristocratic sentiment and the Romanian gentry, Carp helped create the Conservative Party from the various "White" conservative clubs (1880), but also led a Junimist dissident wing against the Conservative mainstream leaders Lascăr Catargiu and Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino. He was a contributor to the Junimea platform Convorbiri Literare, and founder of the newspapers Térra (1868) and Moldova (1915).

Widely seen as unyielding and trenchant in his public stance, and respected as an orator, P. P. Carp stood against the majority current in various political debates. His entire discourse was an alternative to the protectionist, antisemitic and populist tendencies of "Red" Romanian liberalism. Welcoming Westernization and free trade, his vision of development nonetheless rested on gradualism and criticized modern experiments in governance. The two Carp administrations are remembered for their fiscal reforms, their encouragement of foreign investments, and their attempted clampdown on political corruption.