Constantine Mourouzis

Prince Constantine Demetrius Mourouzis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Δημήτριος Μουρούζης, romanized: Konstantinos Demetrios Mourouzis, Romanian: Constantin Dimitrie Moruzi; 1730 – 1 May 1787) was a Phanariote Prince of Moldavia, and member of the Mourousis family. A remarkable polyglot, he spoke five languages: Greek, Latin, French, Arabic and Turkish.

Prince Constantine Mourouzis
Prince of Moldavia
Reign	12 October 1777 – 9 June 1782
Predecessor	Grigore III Ghica
Successor	Alexander I Mavrocordatos
Born	1730 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	1 May 1787 Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey)
House	Mourouzis family
Religion	Orthodox

In 1761, he became Grand Postelnic (foreign minister) in Moldavia, and soon after Dragoman of the Fleet (deputy minister) of the Ottoman Admiralty, and eventually Grand Dragoman. There are indications that he was politically involved in the dismissal and assassination of his predecessor, Grigore III Ghica, by the Porte.^[1] Trusted by the Porte, he obtained the throne of Moldavia on October 12, 1770.

Mourouzis spent much of his time in Iaşi, supervising the gathering of agricultural resources demanded by the Porte, but also fought extravagant luxury and surrounded himself with scholars, paying particular attention to schools and founding scholarships. He was deposed on June 7, 1782, and exiled to the island of Tenedos. He returned in 1783, but died soon after.

Notes

1. Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (eds.) (2007) "Moruzi. Constantin" Historical Dictionary of Moldova (2nd ed.) Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, USA, p. 250, ISBN 978-0-8108-5607-3

Preceded by Alexander Ypsilantis	Grand Dragoman of the Porte 1774–1777	Succeeded by Nicolae Caradja
Preceded by Grigore III Ghica	Prince/Voivode of Moldavia 1777–1782	Succeeded by Alexander I Mavrocordatos