Nicolae Matei

Who was Nicolae Matei?

Nicolae Matei was a Romanian politician who served as Deputy from 1905 to 1914 and as Senator from 1914 to 1933. He married first Aglaia Popovici in 1893 and second time Smaranda Taşcă in 1920. His first wife died in 1917 during World War I in a shrapnel blast. His second wife was an agriculturist who had been trained in Germany under a special scholarship program sponsored by queen Elisabeth of Romania.

Nicolae Matei was also owner of the Bogdăneşti estate in Bacău county, which besides the mansion, also included farmland, a vineyard, two mills and more as 57.5 ha woodlands. The estate was inherited by his male offspring, Virgiliu, but was expropriated in March 1949 after the rise to power of the communist regime. The Virgiliu's inheriter, Nicolae Matei, born in 1940, has partially recovered the Nicolae Matei's property and lives in Bogdăneşti, in the family's house.

Eventually his offspring moved to Cork, Ireland where both his granddaughter Ruxandra Colan Petcu and his great-granddaughter Ioana Petcu-Colan have pursued careers as musicians.