Barbu Bellu

Who was Barbu Bellu?

Barbu Bellu was a Romanian baron, minister of culture, and minister of justice. Bellu, the most famous cemetery in Romania, sits on a plot of land donated by Barbu Bellu to the local administration.

A member of the Bellu family, of Aromanian origin, he studied at home and then in Greece around the year 1843. In 1850, he became a judge of the Ilfov County courthouse and in 1852, the presiding judge of the same courthouse. He was a prosecutor at Curtea de Argeş in 1856 and starting 1859, a judge at the Romanian High Court of Justice.

In 1862, Barbu Bellu was named the minister of culture, but he resigned in June after Prime Minister Barbu Catargiu, his cousin, was assassinated. In 1863, he was the Minister of Justice in the Kretzulescu cabinet for one month.

He was a Member of Parliament, representing Muscel County in 1859, 1861 and 1864. In 1866, Austrian Emperor Franz Josef gave him the title of baron. After Alexandru Ioan Cuza abdicated, Barbu Bellu retired from public life.