Barbu Știrbey

Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey was 30th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Romania in 1927. He was the son of Prince Alexandru Știrbey and his wife Princess Maria Ghika-Comănești, and grandson of another Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei, who was Prince of Wallachia and died in 1869. The Știrbey family was one of the more prominent and wealthier boyar (noble) families in Wallachia, and had been so since the 15th century. Știrbey was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris, and was famous in Romania for his work in modernising the vast estates he owned and for "his model farm was recognized for the exceptional quality of its products". Știrbey was a polished, cultivated aristocrat known in Romania as the "White Prince" on the account of his impeccable manners.