Iacob Lahovary

Iacob Lahovary
Iacob Lahovary
Minister of War of Kingdom of Romania
	In office; 21 February 1891 – 22 February 1894
Monarch	Carol I of Romania
Preceded by	Matei Vlădescu
Succeeded by	Lascăr Catargiu
	In office; 11 April 1899 – 13 February 1901
Preceded by	Anton Berindei
Succeeded by	Dimitrie Sturdza
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania
	In office; 22 December 1904 – 7 February 1907
Preceded by	Ion I. C. Brătianu
Succeeded by	Ioan Lahovary
Chief of the Romanian General Staff
	In office; 1 October 1894 – 1 October 1895
Prime Minister	Lascăr Catargiu
Preceded by	Ștefan Fălcoianu
Succeeded by	Constantin Barozzi [ro]
Personal details
Born	16 January 1846; Bucharest, Wallachia
Died	7 February 1907 (aged 61); Paris, France
Resting place	Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, Romania (1907–2008)
Spouses	; Elena Kretzulescu (div. 1883) ; Alexandrina Cantacuzino (m. 1883⁠–⁠1907)
Children	Elena, Iacob, Leon
Relatives	Alexandru Lahovary (brother); Ioan Lahovary (brother);
Alma mater	École Polytechnique; Sorbonne University
Awards	Military Virtue Medal; Order of the Star of Romania; Order of Carol I
Military service
Branch/service	Army
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Romanian War of Independence Siege of Plevna; ;

Iacob N. Lahovary (Romanian: Iacob N. Lahovari; 16 January 1846 – 7 February 1907) was a member of the Romanian aristocracy, a general, politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of War and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Romania.^[1]

Life and career

Iacob Lahovary was the brother of Alexandru Lahovary and Ioan Lahovary both of whom served as foreign ministers. He attended the Bucharest School of Officers in 1859–1864, École Polytechnique in Paris in 1864–1870. He also graduated from Sorbonne University with a degree in mathematics in 1870. As soon as Lahovary entered military service, he quickly rose in the ranks of the Romanian Army: he became second lieutenant in 1864, lieutenant in 1870, captain in 1871, major in 1874, lieutenant colonel in 1877, colonel in 1883, brigadier general in 1891, and general in 1900.

During the Romanian War of Independence of 1877–1878, Lahovary fought at the battle of Vidin and at the Siege of Plevna.^[2] His awards include the War Medal of Military Virtue; the Order of the Star of Romania, Commander class; and the Order of Carol I, Grand Officer class.^[3]

His first wife was Elena Kretzulescu, with whom he had a daughter, Elena. Divorced in 1883, he remarried Alexandrina Cantacuzino, with whom he had two sons, Iacob and Leon.^[4]

He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs for a little more than two years before he died in February 1907 and was replaced by his brother Ioan Lahovary.^[5] Lahovary died in Paris of colon cancer.^[2] He was buried at Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest,^[6] in a tomb designed in 1905 by renowned architect Ion Mincu.^[3]^[7]

Legacy

His resting place was vandalized in 1993, when his bust (the work of sculptor Oscar Späthe [ro]) was stolen. In 2008, Marian Vanghelie, the then-Mayor of Sector 5 of Bucharest had Lahovary's remains removed, and his grandfather was buried there, instead.^[3]^[7]

A street in Galați is named after General Iacob Lahovary.

The Lahovary House [ro] was built by Ion Mincu between 1884 and 1886, at his request. Registered now as a monument istoric, the house is considered to be one of the first significant Romanian Revival style buildings in the history of Romanian architecture.^[4]