Teodor Baconschi | |
|---|---|
 Baconschi in 2011 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 23 December 2009 – 23 January 2012 | |
| President | Traian Băsescu |
| Preceded by | Cătălin Predoiu |
| Succeeded by | Cristian Diaconescu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1963-02-14)February 14, 1963 (age 62) Bucharest, Romania |
| Profession | Diplomat |
Teodor Baconschi (Romanian pronunciation:[te.oˈdorbaˈkonski]; also spelledBaconsky orBaconski; born 14 February 1963) is a Romanianpolitician. He was theMinister of Foreign Affairs of Romania between December 2009 and January 2012.[1][2]
Baconschi was born inBucharest to the poetAnatol E. Baconsky and his wife Clara. He graduated from the Theological Institute of theUniversity of Bucharest in 1985, received aDiplôme d'études approfondies (Master of Advanced Studies) at theUniversité de Paris IV-Sorbonne in 1991 and aPhD in Religious Anthropology and Compared History of Religions from the same university in 1994. He continued with his post-doctoral studies as a Fellow of theNew Europe College of Bucharest until 1996. He also lectured onReligious Anthropology at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Bucharest.[3] Baconschi was Director ofAnastasia Publishers in Bucharest and editor-in-chief of theSpiritual Life on RomanianNational Public Television. He also worked as an advisor with the Ministry of Culture and editor with the Biblical and Mission Institute's Publishing Office of theRomanian Orthodox Church.[4]
Baconschi has served as the Romanian Ambassador to theVatican, to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and to the Republic of San Marino in 1999–2001, to Portugal in 2002–2004, to France,Monaco andAndorra from September 2007 to December 2009. From October 2006 until August 2007, he served as thePresidential Advisor on political affairs with the Presidential Administration during the presidency ofTraian Băsescu. Baconschi held offices of the Director General in 2001 and State Secretary for Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania from January 2005 to September 2006. On December 23, 2009, he was appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania.[4] As the Foreign Minister, Baconschi has been a proponent of closer ties with the United States and further integration intoNATO.[5]
Baconschi was fired by Prime MinisterEmil Boc on January 23, 2012, following a blog post where the Foreign Minister described anti-government protesters as "clueless and inept slum dwellers."[6][7][8]
Baconschi has received several awards throughout his career: the Grand Cross of theOrder of Pius IX (Holy See), Grand Officer of theOrder of Saint Agatha (San Marino), Officer of the NationalOrder of Faithful Service (Romania), Grand Officer of theOrder of the Star of Italian Solidarity, Grand Officer of theNational Order of Merit (Portugal), as well as Commander of theLegion of Honour (France).[9]
Baconschi published several books inFrench andRomanian, such as:[10]
He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese and Italian. He is an affiliate member of the International Association of Patristic Studies (AIEP, Paris), co-founder of the Reflection Group for the Renewal of the Church (Bucharest), member of the New Europe College (Bucharest) and member of theGroup for Social Dialogue (Bucharest).[4]
Media related toTeodor Baconschi at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2009–2012 | Succeeded by |
