Miron Cristea, Romanian cleric and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1939)
Miron Cristea (Romanian pronunciation: [miˈron ˈkriste̯a]; monastic name of Elie Cristea [eˈli.e]; 20 July 1868 – 6 March 1939) was a Romanian cleric and politician.
A bishop in Hungarian-ruled Transylvania, Cristea was elected Metropolitan-Primate of the Orthodox Church of the newly unified Greater Romania in 1919. As the Church was raised to a rank of Patriarchate, Miron Cristea was enthroned as the first Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1925.
In 1938, after Carol II banned political parties and established a royal dictatorship, he chose Cristea to be Prime Minister of Romania, a position from which he served for about a year, between 11 February 1938, and his death.