Averescu, Alexander [key], 1859–1938, Romanian general and political leader. He served as a volunteer in the 1877–78 war against the Ottoman Empire and rose to become minister of war in 1907. He distinguished himself as a commander in World War I, especially in the 1916 Dobruja campaign, and gained a great popular following. In late Jan., 1918, he was chosen to form a cabinet to negotiate peace with the Central Powers. Averescu founded (1918) the People's league (later the People's party), which sought moderate land reform and suppression of the left. He was premier in 1920–21 and again in 1926–27 and was made a marshal in 1930.
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