Alexander von Petrino

Alexander Freiherr von Petrinò (Romanian: Alexandru Petrino; 18 May 1824 – died 17 April 1899) was a Romanian nobleman, landowner and politician from the Austrian Bukovina. He served as a deputy in the Diet of Bukovina, the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), and as the Austrian Minister of Agriculture, being the only ethnic Romanian from Bukovina to hold this office. Petrinò advocated for the cultural and political autonomy of the Romanians in Bukovina.

Biography Coming from an old family of Aromanian merchants who settled in Moldavia in the late 18th century as Phanariots, Petrinò was the son of landowner Apostolo Ioan (from 1835: Baron) Petrinò (d. 1837). His stepfather was landowner Ioan Mustață. He was of the Orthodox faith and married Marie Martine (d. 1895).

Several members of his extended family were also deputies in the Diet of Bukovina: His half-brother Nicolae Petrinò (1817–1884), from his father's first marriage; His half-brother Otto Petrinò (1834–1884); His stepbrother from his mother’s second marriage, Nicolae Mustață (1839–1904); His stepbrother Ioan Mustață (1830–1895).

He attended gymnasium and the Institute of Philosophy in Czernowitz, then studied law at the University of Vienna starting in 1842.

In 1860, he became a member of the expanded Imperial Council, where he supported the improvement of the Orthodox Church's status.

After his brother Nicolae declined a mandate, Alexander Petrinò was elected in a partial election to the first legislature (3 May 1861 – 9 May 1864) from the college of large landowners. In the second legislature (20 May 1867 – 31 March 1870), he was elected by the cities' college and the Czernowitz Chamber of Commerce. He resigned again, along with 11 other deputies, in protest against the Reichsrat's rejection of his proposal for expanded provincial autonomy and dissatisfaction with emergency electoral law debates. In the third and fifth legislatures, he was again elected by the landowners' college. Between 17 June and late September 1867, he was part of the Herbst-Kaiserfeld Club. In 1870 and again in 1873, he joined the conservative-centrist club, identifying as a Romanian federalist.

In the government led by Count Alfred Józef Potocki, Petrinò briefly served as acting Minister of Agriculture (6 May – 28 June 1870), then as full minister from 28 June 1870 to 6 February 1871.

Baron Petrinò led the Federalist Party (also known as the Autonomist Party), which campaigned for greater autonomy of Bukovina from Vienna. Other members included Gheorghe Hurmuzachi, Alexander Wassilko von Serecki, and Gheorghe Flondor. The federalists, while nationalist, viewed all of Bukovina as historically Romanian. Governor Martina remarked that "Petrinò's party" incited agitation against foreign officials (e.g., Ruthenians) brought in from Galicia. It also spoke out against the centralising tendencies of Vienna, supporting the extension of the right to vote on other social categories, ensuring public education, freedom of the press, and the material and spiritual progress of all nationalities in the empire.

In 1872, he founded the Society of National Autonomists and the newspaper Der Patriot, in an attempt to regain political support. However, the endeavor ended in electoral failure, and combined with family problems, led to his withdrawal from politics in 1875. He retired to his estate, where he remained until his death in 1899.