Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1820 HuSi, Moldavia –1873). First ruler (1859–1866) of the United Romanian Principalities, active factor in the revolutionary movement in Moldavia (1848), militating for the Union; as a ruler he founded the Romanian modern state, performing fundamental changes (the 1864 Reform Bill, Electoral Bill); abdicated in February 1866 at the pression of the conservatives and the liberals.