He was the son of
Stefan Bogoridi, an Ottoman high official of
Bulgarian ethnicity who also served as Moldavia's governor in 1820–1821, and brother of
Alexander Bogoridi. His mother was Ralou Skilitzi. In 1856, as
Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica was removed by the
Treaty of Paris, although Moldavia remained technically under the
suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, Vogoride was appointed as finance minister under the new government of caimacam
Teodor Balş. When Balş died on March 1, 1857, Vogoride replaced him. He showed himself to be an
ultra-conservative, and was against the union of Moldavia with
Wallachia, the other
Danubian Principality — the union project was advanced by the
Romanian liberals who had taken part in the
1848 Moldavian revolution and, returning from exile, were organizing themselves as
Partida Naţională. The Treaty of Paris also required elections for the Moldavian Assembly, to be supervised by the Ottoman ambassadors of the signing parties. When these were held on July 19 of that year, Vogoride rigged the election lists to ensure a conservative majority with a strong Ottoman bias. When
Sultan Abdülmecid I, with the assurances of
Imperial Austria, did not void the election, Moldavia's other overseers (
French Empire,
Imperial Russia,
Prussia and the
Kingdom of Sardinia) broke diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire on August 4; by August 9, a compromise had been reached, the first election was annulled, and a new one was held on September 22. Not unsurprisingly, the majority of those elected were in favor of the union of the two principalities. Vogoride was removed from office in October 1858.
Personal life Vogoride studied in the
Greek Orthodox College in
Constantinople and later married into the wealthy
Conachi family (1846), and sometimes thereafter used the name
Nicolae Conachi-Vogoride. His wife was Princess
Ecaterina Conachi, and they had four children: Prince
Emanoil, Prince Constantin, Princess Maria and Princess Lucia. He died in
Bucharest. His burial was in 1863 at
Brăila. One year later, his wife Princess Ecaterina married
Emanuele Ruspoli, 1st Prince of Poggio Suasa. ==References==