Teodor Meleşcanu

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Defense Minister of Romania
Teodor Viorel Meleşcanu
Foreign Affairs Minister of Romania
In office 1992 – 1996
Preceded by	Adrian Năstase
Succeeded by	Adrian Severin
Constituency	Prahova County
Incumbent
In office since April 5, 2007
Preceded by	Sorin Frunzǎverde

Born	March 10, 1941 Brad, Romania
Political party	Party of Social Democracy National Liberal Party
Spouse	Felicia Meleşcanu
Children	Marina Meleşcanu
Residence	Bucharest
Occupation	diplomat, jurist

Teodor Viorel Meleşcanu (b. March 10, 1941) is a Romanian politician, diplomat and jurist. Currently serving as a Minister of Defense and senator for the National Liberal Party (PNL), he was Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1992 and 1996. He was married to Felicia Meleşcanu, a jurist and Romanian Television journalist, until her death in January 2004.

Born in Brad, Hunedoara County, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest in 1964 and the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Geneva in 1968. In 1973, he obtained a doctorate in political science and international law from the University of Geneva.

Between 1966 and 1990 he held various diplomatic functions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In August 1990 he was named undersecretary of state in this ministry. Between November 1992 and November 1996 he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Nicolae Văcăroiu's Party of Social Democracy (PDSR) government. In 1996 he campaigned as an independent for election to the Senate from the Prahova County electoral district. He was elected to that body, becoming president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate of Romania in the 1996-2000 legislature.

In 1997, Meleşcanu founded the Alliance for Romania (Alianţa pentru România) party, together with several former members of the PDSR (Mircea Coşea, Iosif Boda, and others). He was elected president of this party in December 1997 and re-elected in March 2001. In January 2002, in the wake of the Alliance for Romania's merger with the PNL, Meleşcanu became first vice-president of the latter party. Since 2004, he has been a senator for Prahova and part of the Justice and Truth alliance, also being a vice-president in the Permanent Bureau of the Senate.

He is a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Bucharest, and has written a substantial number of works and scientific publications dealing with international law and diplomacy.