Anastase Stolojan (6 August 1836 – 25 July 1901) was a Wallachian-born Romanian politician.
Born in Craiova,[1] he descended from a family of small-scale boyars that came from Stolojani village in Gorj County. His father State was a vistier (treasurer).[2] He attended school in his native city before continuing his education in France. In 1863, he graduated from the law faculty of the University of Paris, in the process earning a doctorate. Stolojan entered the magistracy at Craiova in 1865, becoming a prosecutor for the Dolj County tribunal and the appeals court. In 1868, he served as mayor of Craiova.[1] Politically liberal and a close associate of C. A. Rosetti,[2] he was first elected to the Assembly of Deputies in 1869, with support from both liberals and their opposition.[1] He was a supporter of the 1870 Republic of Ploiești conspiracy, and letters with compromising instructions from Rosetti were found in his possession.[2]
A distinguished orator, he drew attention for his vigorous objection to a law on mines drafted by Petre P. Carp in 1895. The proposal indicated that if landowners were unwilling to exploit mines on their property, the state could intervene to force their opening. This was viewed as an assault on the principle of the inviolability of property, and Stolojan contested it until the end, withdrawing from the chamber while it was being voted on.[5] Himself a landowner, Stolojan had some 12 hectares of vineyards, properties at Stolojani and Rușina, purchased the Herești domain in 1881 and was leasing a Gorj County property as of 1886. He owned a lavish home in Bucharest, which his descendants sold in the 1920s; since that time, it has served as the Italian Embassy.[6]
