Emanoil Băleanu (Transitional Cyrillic: Eманoiл БълeaнȢ or БълѣнȢ; "Télégraphie privée", in Journal des Débats, December 19, 1858, p. 1 or Manuel de Balliano;"Histoire de la semaine", in L'Illustration de Bade, Vol. 2, Issue 6, June 1859, p. 41 , Emanoil Pallianos;Camariano, p. 145 also known as Manole, Manoil, Manuil or Manolache Băleanu; 1793 or 1794–1862), was a Wallachian statesman, soldier and industrialist who served as Caimacam (regent) in October 1858–January 1859. Descending from an old family of boyars, he was one of two sons born to Ban Grigore III Băleanu; the other, Nicolae, was a career bureaucrat, and the State Secretary of Wallachia in 1855–1856. Although prone to displays of Romanian nationalism, the family was prominent under the cosmopolitan Phanariotes, and young Băleanu was educated in Greek. Prince Alexandros Soutzos welcomed him at the court and became his father-in-law. At that stage, Băleanu's participation in the spoils system was signaled by his highly controversial claim to ownership of Târgoviște city, and also by his monopoly on handkerchief manufacture. A slaveowner, he founded the village of Bolintin-Deal, initially populated by his captive Romanies.
His father hoped to steer the anti-Phanariote revolt of 1821, but both he and Emanoil were driven into exile when Bucharest fell to the rebels. In exile, Băleanu Jr began gravitating toward liberalism, before becoming curious about utopian socialism. Under the Regulamentul Organic regime, he was made Polkovnik in the Wallachian military forces and served two terms in the Ordinary National Assembly. He and Ioan Câmpineanu emerged as leaders of the "National Party", which mounted the opposition to Alexandru II Ghica and uncovered constitutional irregularities. Băleanu was sent into internal exile in 1841, but reinstated following interventions by his friends in the Russian Empire and the Wallachian Church. He ran in the princely election of 1842, but conceded defeat in favor of his friend Gheorghe Bibescu, who then made him his Postelnic (1843–1847). As such, Băleanu contributed directly to the modernization of Wallachia, and also to the early stages of abolitionism—though he himself remained a slaveowner to 1855.
Băleanu joined the conservative camp during the Wallachian Revolution of 1848. For a few days in June–July of that year, he proclaimed himself Caimacam, heading a reactionary administration alongside Metropolitan Neofit II. Before being deposed and driven out of Wallachia, he gave the order to destroy revolutionary symbols, including the "Statue of Liberty". Returning with the Ottoman Army, he was again promoted under Prince Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei, and especially during the late stages of the Crimean War, which removed Russian tutelage. His focus fell on obtaining a close alliance between Wallachia and the Austrian Empire.
Băleanu's second, internationally recognized, term as Caimacam was within a triumvirate that also included Ioan Filipescu-Vulpache and Ioan Manu; alongside the latter, Băleanu instituted a repressive regime, directing censorship and intimidation against the National Party. They organized the legislative elections of 1859, but were outmaneuvered by liberals and nationalists, who managed to push through their agenda. Băleanu was brutalized and shunned during events leading up to the establishment of the United Principalities, which put an end to his political career. His only literary work was a manuscript chronicle, which was later exposed as plagiarized.
Biography Early life The Băleanus, whose history is linked to an eponymous estate in Dâmbovița County, belonged to Wallachia's older lineage of boyar nobility, and claimed kinship with the ancient House of Basarab.Chirică, p. 352; Lecca, p. 9 The family patriarch was Udrea Băleanu, who served as Ban of Oltenia in the 1590s.Potra (1990 II), p. 154 His nephew, Ivașco I Băleanu, emerged as a powerful player in 1630s Wallachia, having backed Matei Basarab for Wallachia's throne; his son, Gheorghe Băleanu, similarly endorsed and fought alongside Constantin Șerban.Stoicescu, pp. 114–116 He was prominent into the 1670s, when he and his family feuded with the Cantacuzinos; their conflict came to an end in 1679, when Gheorghe's son, Ivașco II, was sent into exile.Stoicescu, pp. 116–118, 135–139, 165, 173, 195–196, 215–216 By the late 18th century, the family (one of the 16 boyar clans which could claim an ancient Wallachian origin) had secured major feudal privileges, including tax farming on their estates—one of only four families to maintain that favor.Bucur, pp. 32–33, 35
Emanoil was Ivașco II's great-great-grandson.Lecca, p. 9; Păduraru, pp. 98–103 He was born in 1793 or 1794 as the son of Ban Grigore III Băleanu (1770–1842) and his wife Maria, née Brâncoveanu (?–1837).Crutzescu & Teodorescu, p. 498; Ion & Berindei, p. 215; Lăcusteanu & Crutzescu, p. 231; Papazoglu & Speteanu, p. 315. See also Bogdan-Duică, p. 252; Camariano, p. 146; Lecca, p. 9 On his mother's side, he was a collateral descendant of Wallachian Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu; Maria's brother, also named Grigore, was the last male of the Craiovești-Brâncoveanu family.Ion & Berindei, pp. 214–215 His maternal grandmother was a member of a Moldavian clan, the Sturdzas.Ion & Berindei, p. 215 Emanoil's siblings included a sister, Zoe (1791–1877). In 1811–1815, she was married to the aristocrat Matei Ghika, but divorced when he fell ill with tuberculosis.Merișescu & Vintilă-Ghițulescu, pp. 35–36 One contemporary account suggests that she then became the wife of Dimitri Caragea, a relative of Prince John Caradja.Merișescu & Vintilă-Ghițulescu, pp. 38–45, 50, 104–110 Zoe's last husband was entrepreneur Ștefan Hagi-Moscu.Ion & Berindei, pp. 215–216; Merișescu & Vintilă-Ghițulescu, pp. 50–51. See also Lecca, p. 9 Zoe and Emanoil had a brother, Nicolae, as well as two other sisters: Elena, married to Constantin Năsturel-Herescu; and Luxița, whose husband was writer Nicolae Văcărescu.Lecca, pp. 9, 85. See also Tiron, pp. 462, 468, 475, 491
Emanoil's childhood and youth coincided with the closing stages of the Phanariote era, during which Wallachia and Moldavia (the "Danubian Principalities") were more closely integrated with the Ottoman Empire, and Greek immigration became more significant. Father Grigore was involved with the Phanariote administration of Bucharest and owned houses just west of Turnul Colței.Crutzescu & Teodorescu, pp. 95, 156; Potra (1990 I), pp. 221, 257, 311, 443; (1990 II), p. 29 He was first propelled to the high office of Spatharios and Logothete during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, when he supported occupation by the Russian Empire,Radu Rosetti, "Arhiva senatorilor dela Chișinău și ocupația rusească dela 1806—1812. III. Amănunte asupra Moldovei dela 1808 la 1812", in Analele Academiei Române, Vol. XXXII, 1909–1910, pp. 199–200, 202, 260–261, 266, 270, 284 receiving the Order of Saint Anna.Iorga (1921), p. 284 A patron of literature, he regularly donated from his collection of books, paid for a translation of Condillac's essays, and reportedly began writing a Romanian dictionary.Bogdan-Duică, pp. 47, 65, 69 In 1816, he sponsored Pete Efesiul's print shop—Wallachia's first publisher of sheet music.Dan Simonescu, "Din activitatea tipografică a Bucureștilor (1683–1830)", in Bucureștii Vechi, Vols. I–IV, 1935, p. 134
Emanoil was home-schooled in the city by the Greek tutor Kirkireu, who introduced him to the Phanariote court.Ghica & Roman, pp. 254–256 A contemporary note by journalist and editor Zaharia Carcalechi suggests that Emanoil and Nicolae Băleanu were both educated in the Kingdom of France and the Austrian Empire—though, as historian Nestor Camariano concluded in 1946, it is impossible to know when and for how long Emanoil was actually abroad.Camariano, p. 146 Although one late record suggests that he was also raised in Germany,Iorga (1928), p. 419 Greek remained his favorite language of expression even later in life.Camariano, passim; Dima et al., p. 13 At some point in his youth (probably before 1818), Emanoil produced a chronicle of documenting the history of Roman Dacia and the Early Middle Ages. The manuscript was much later exposed as plagiarized version of a similar work by Theodoros Photeinos (Teodor Fotino), which in turn may have copied a since-lost book by Dionisie Fotino.Camariano, passim; Alexandru Elian, "Introducere", in Alexandru Elian, Nicolae Șerban Tanașoca (eds.), Izvoarele istoriei României, III: Scriitori bizantini (sec. XI–XIV), pp. XVI–XVII, XXVII. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1975. As noted by Camariano, "nothing [else] remains, whether published or in manuscript" from Băleanu the writer.Camariano, p. 147
Slaveowner and political novice Historian Radu Crutzescu proposes that Emanoil's political rise was in large part owed to his kinship with two families: the Văcărescus and the Soutzos; his niece was Marițica Văcărescu, who was to become Prince Gheorghe Bibescu's wife, and, through his marriage with Catinca, he was also the son-in-law of Wallachia's last Phanariote Prince, Alexandros Soutzos.Lăcusteanu & Crutzescu, p. 231 A Wallachian comedy of ca. 1820 shows Ban Grigore trafficking in influence to benefit his in-laws.Cornelia Papacostea-Danielopolu, "La satire sociale-politique dans la littérature dramatique en langue grecque des Principautés (1774—1830)", in Revue Des Études Sud-est Européennes, Vol. XV, Issue 1, January–March 1977, p. 83 Phanariote favoritism was also noted by memoirist Ion Ghica. He mentions that Emanoil's Greek education is what drew Prince Soutzos' attention. Upon his wedding to Catinca, Băleanu received ownership of Târgoviște, which the Prince had abusively claimed as his own; when news of this deal reached the sparked city, the rioting citizens placed a jinx on Soutzos' house.Crutzescu & Teodorescu, p. 216; Ghica & Roman, pp. 90, 254–256 Catinca's dowry also included a monopoly on the manufacture of handkerchiefs, which came with additional tax privileges and the right to employ 30 foreign laborers. This included ownership of the textile mill at Mărcuța Church, which Băleanu immediately leased to a Russian immigrant.Șerban, p. 51. See also Bucur, p. 47; Giurescu, p. 111
Emanoil Băleanu first reached high office in 1819, when he served as Wallachia's junior Minister of Internal Affairs, or Vornic; he was the country's highest Logothete in 1821.Camariano, pp. 146–147 Around 1800, he had begun constructing a manor for himself, at a new spot clear-cut from Vlăsiei Forest, between Târgoviște and Bucharest. He and his family were traditional slaveowners, bringing with them a large number of captive Romanies; these were settled into a village that was originally named "Băleanu".Elena D. Gheorghe, Gabriel Stegărescu, "Monografia comunei Bolintinul din Deal", in Sud. Revistă Editată de Asociația pentru Cultură și Tradiție Istorică Bolintineanu, Issues 1–2/2013, pp. 29–30 Around 1816, the completion of a road drew in Romanians from the neighboring Bolintin-Spiridon, which became depopulated. The resulting rural agglomeration became Bolintin-Deal, which is still informally divided into Berceni and Băleanu villages; both of them were populated by his tenant farmers, slaves and non-slaves alike.