Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei ([ˈbarbu diˈmitri.e ʃtirˈbej]), also written as Stirbey, (17 August 1799 – April 13, 1869), a boyar of the Bibescu family, was a hospodar (Prince of Wallachia) on two occasions, between 1848 and 1853, and between 1854 and 1856.
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Early life
He was born to Boyar Dumitrache Bibescu, Palatine of Wallachia, and his wife, Ecaterina Văcărescu. He was adopted by his maternal grandfather, the last of the Știrbei family who left him heir to his wealth and family name.
He studied philosophy and law in Paris, at the beginning of Louis XVIII's reign, in 1815. After the return in Wallachia, in 1821 he took refuge from the Wallachian uprising of 1821 in Brașov, Transylvania (part of the Austrian Empire at the time).
Ascension
In 1825, he returned to Bucharest and took on several offices with the administration of Grigore IV Ghica. After Wallachia was occupied by Imperial Russia following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, general Pavel Kiseleff promoted him to the central government, where he served as president of the Wallachian commission charged with drafting the Organic Regulation, the first form of constitutional law ever implemented in Wallachia.