Gheorghe Balș

Born in Adjud, Vrancea County, his parents Alecu Balș (1838-1894) and Roxanda Sturdza (d. 1878) were descended from prominent Moldavian boyar families.

[1][2] In 1891, after returning home, he was hired at the bridge inspection service of Căile Ferate Române state railway carrier.

He worked with Anghel Saligny and possibly Louis Blanc on the King Carol I Bridge in Cernavodă and on the lighthouse in Tuzla.

[2] He sat on numerous company boards, including those of a mine and of a credit bank for encouraging industrial firms.

The Balș family had extensive rural properties in Moldavia, but his parents gradually had to sell their lands in order to pay off debts and losses by their administrators.