Barbu Åžtirbey

Prince Barbu Stirbey (* November 4, 1872 in Buftea, † March 24, 1946 ) was in June 1927 briefly Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Romania.

Life and career

He was the son of Prince Alexandru Stirbey and his wife Maria Ghica Comăneşti, also grandson of Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei, the prince of Wallachia was and died in 1869.

Its real importance in the history of Romania derives from its role as a close confidant of Queen Marie, who was himself a very influential person in the Romanian government circles before the accession of her son King Carol II to the throne in 1930.

Stirbey and Queen Marie were lovers and he was probably the father of her youngest child, Mircea, and possibly the father of Ileana.

Shortly after the royal coup of August 23, 1944 Stirbey traveled with the Romanian delegation that the ceasefire between Romania and the Soviet Union signed on 12 September, to Moscow. Stirbey was one of the authorized signatories of the Agreement, the other signatories were Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, Dumitru Dămăceanu and Ghita Popp on the Romanian side and Rodion Malinovsky on the Soviet side.

Stirbey was married to Princess Naděje Bibescu, with whom he had four daughters.