George Ghica

Gheorghe Ghica
Prince of Moldavia Prince of Wallachia
Gheorghe Ghica
Reign	c. 1658 - c. 1660
Predecessor	Gheorghe Stefan
Successor	Constantin Serban
Born	March 3, 1600 Köprülü, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Died	November 2, 1664
Spouse	Smaragda (Smada) Lâna
House	Ghica
Father	Matei Ghica
Religion	Orthodox Christian

George Ghica (Albanian: Gjergj Gjika, Romanian: Gheorghe Ghika) founder of the Ghica family, was Prince of Moldavia in 1658–1659 and Prince of Wallachia in 1659–1660.

George Ghica was born in Köprülü, present day Veles, to Albanian^[1][2] parents. At a young age, Ghica was involded in trading and dealings with merchandise. George, along with his father expanded their business and moved to Moldavia. Accumulating a substantial amount of wealth, George became a nobleman and was sent to the Sublime Porte as an ambassador. He was in favour with Vasile Lupu in Moldavia and while in Istanbul, he became close friends with the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and helped him on to high positions. As Prince of Wallachia he moved the capital from Târgoviște to Bucharest.

From him are descended the numerous branches of the family which became conspicuous in the history of Moldavia and Wallachia. His son was

• Grigore I Ghica.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

1. Spânu, Vlad (2004). Historical Dictionary of Moldova. 4501 forbes blvd lanham md 20706: Scarecrow Press, INC. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-8108-5607-3. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
2. Richardson, Charles Francis (1898). The International Cyclopedia: A Compendium of Human Knowledge, Rev. with Large Additions, Volume 6. Retrieved 14 October 2013.