Tudor Vladimirescu


Vladimirescu, Tudor

 

Born circa 1780 in the village of Vladimir, Oltenia; died May 27, 1821. Leader of the Wallachian Revolt of 1821. Born into a peasant family.

Vladimirescu worked as a trader and was connected with the boyars who owned little land. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-12, he commanded a detachment of Rumanian volunteers who fought in the ranks of the Russian Army. He received the rank of lieutenant and was awarded a Russian order. He prepared and led the revolt (1821) in the Danubian principalities. Vladimirescu’s vacillations and mistakes, and also disagreements with the Greek Hetaerists, headed by A. Ypsilanti, led to a weakening of his position as leader of the revolt. He was treacherously seized, delivered to the Hetaerist staff, and murdered.