Tudor Vladimirescu Tudor Vladimirescu ( ; c . 1780 – ) was a Wallachia n Romania n revolutionary hero , the leader of the Wallachian uprising of 1821 and of the Pandur militia . He is also known as Tudor din Vladimiri ( " Tudor of Vladimiri " ) or — occasionally — as Domnul Tudor ( " Voivode Tudor " ) . Background . Tudor was born in Vladimiri , Gorj County ( in the region of Oltenia ) in a family of landed peasants ( " mazili " ) ; his birth year is usually given as 1780 , but this is still debated . At the age of 12 , he was sent to Craiova , in service to boyar Ioan Glogoveanu , where he would later learn rhetoric , grammar and the Greek language . He became administrator of the boyar ' s estate and , in 1806 , was named " vătaf " ( leader of the local militias ) at Cloşani . Tudor ' s experience as a servant made him familiar with customs , habits and objectives of landowners ; this insight helped him walk the fine line between conflicting interests of boyars and peasants in the first months of the uprising against the Phanariotes . It is argued that Vladimirescu ' s vitriolic outbursts against " " Greeks " " ( foreign , newly arrived landowners ) and " " traitorous boyars " " ( the group who did not give him support ) were also motivated by his ambition towards being included into the ranks of local estate - holders ; while leader of a mainly peasant movement , Tudor did his best not to antagonize the elite , ruthlessly punishing any destruction of property . Tudor enrolled in the Russian army and took part in the Russo - Turkish War , 1806 - 1812 . Consequently , he was awarded the Order of St . Vladimir 3rd degree and given Russian protection and immunity from prosecution under both Wallachia n and Ottoman legislation ( " see Sudiţi " ) . This contributed to Tudor ' s decisions throughout the uprising , alongside his belief that Russia was backing his actions . After the war , Tudor returned to Oltenia . He traveled briefly to Vienna , in 1814 , in order to attend a lawsuit involving Glogoveanu ' s wife ' s patrimony . The trip coincided with the Peace Congress , and it is believed that Vladimirescu followed the treaties ' outcome . From 1812 to 1821 , Vladimirescu slowly built a follower base . The Pandurs respected his military skills , and many sources point out his charisma and outstanding negotiating abilities . He would also have been familiarised with the outcomes of the First and Second Serbian Uprising . Uprising . Prince Alexandru Suţu ' s death in January 1821 led to the forming of a temporary " Comitet de Ocârmuire " ( " Governing Committee " ) , three regents - all of them members of the most representative indigenous boyar families , of which the most prominent was " Caimacam " Grigore Brâncoveanu . The " Comitet " , motivated against competition and denied Phanariote rulers ' favours , decided to quickly manoeuver anti - boyar and anti - Phanariote sentiment in Wallachia ( and especially in Oltenia ) , acting before the newly appointed Scarlat Callimachi could claim his throne . Therefore , an agreement between it and the Pandurs was reached on the 15th : Dimitrie Macedonski was awarded the post of lieutenant to Tudor . The very same day , Vladimirescu sent a letter to the Ottoman Court of Mahmud II , stating that his objective was not the rejection of Ottoman rule , but that of the Phanariote regime , and showing his willingness for preservation of the traditional institutions . The statements were meant to buy Tudor time against Ottoman response , as he was already in negotiations with the Greek Anti - Ottoman revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía ( having probably been in contact with it from around 1819 ) . Together , they produced a plan for insurrection , with the two Eterist representatives ( Giorgakis Olympios and Ioan Farmache ) assuring the Wallachians of Russian support for the common cause . It is apparent that Tudor was not himself a member of the Etaireía : the rigid command structure of the Brotherhood would have excluded the need for any negotiations . After fortifying monasteries in Oltenia ( Tismana , Strehaia ) that were to serve him in the event of Ottoman intervention , Tudor travelled to Padeș where he issued his first proclamation ( January 23 ) . It included references to Enlightenment principles ( notably , the right to resist oppression ) , but was also an almost millenarianist appeal to peasants , promising a " spring " to follow " winter " . In February , the demands were detailed by more documents . They included : the elimination of purchased offices in the administration , with the introduction of meritocratic promotion , the suppression of certain taxes and taxing criteria , the reduction of the main tax , the founding of a Wallachian Army , and an end to internal . In line with these , Tudor asked for the banishment of some Phanariote families and forbidding future Princes to hold a retinue that would compete with local boyars for offices . Calls by boyars in the Divan for Tudor to cease such activities ( expressed by envoy Nicolae Văcărescu ) were met with a virulent refusal . The army , swelled up in numbers as it advanced , occupied Bucharest on March 21 - here , Tudor issued another important proclamation , one that expressed yet again his commitment to peace with the Ottomans . Previously , the Philikí Etaireía under Alexander Ypsilanti had emerged in Moldavia , proclaiming a liberation from Ottoman rule that was backed by the then Moldavian Prince Mihail Suţu ( " see Greek War of Independence " ) . However , this coincided with Russian reaction against Greek rebellion , with the Russian army entering Moldavia and enforcing Holy Alliance policies . Ypsilanti ' s army headed south , reaching Pandur - occupied Bucharest . Tudor ' s actions in the meanwhile had destroyed his alliance to local boyars . He had started wearing the " kalpak " ( a tall , cylindrical , black leather hat ; " see Ottoman Clothing " ) reserved for the Prince , and demanded to be addressed as " Domn " ( " Master " , " Prince " ; cf . " Domnitor " ) - moving away from subordination to the landowners ' cause . The meeting between Ypsilanti and Tudor brought a new compromise . Tudor considered himself liberated from the provisions of the January agreement , as Russia was now an enemy of the Etaireía ; Ypsilanti tried to persuade him that Russian support was still possible . The country was divided into a Greek administration and a Wallachian one , with Tudor ' s declaring itself neutral in the face of large Ottoman armies preparing to cross the north of the Danube . Ottoman actions had been prompted by Russian threat of intervention in Wallachia . Tudor ' s army retreated towards Oltenia in May , as the Ottomans occupied Bucharest without meeting resistance . Tudor was no longer capable of maintaining the discipline and cohesion of his own troops , and an attempt to ensure these through selective hangings only served to win him the fear of his subordinates . There was general apathy when his willingness for a compromise with the Ottoman Empire caused him to be arrested ( by the same Olimpiotul and Farmache , on June 1 , in Goleşti ) , tried by the Etaireía , in Târgovişte . He was tortured , killed , and his mutilated body was thrown into a well at a monastery . The Etaireía did not succeed in its goal to assume command of Vladimirescu ' s army : most of it disbanded on the spot , with only a handful opposing Ottoman presence , and only up to August . Legacy . Tudor ' s rebellion ensured that Wallachia would stay under military occupation . Although the situation was stabilized by August , Ottoman troops remained present until 1826 . However , as they could no longer trust Phanariote rule in the face of its infiltration by Greek nationalism ( Ypsilanti himself came from a Phanariote family - " see Alexandru Ipsilanti , his grandfather , and Constantin Ipsilanti , his father " ) , the Ottomans returned the two Principalities to rule by and through locals ( in 1822 ) : Grigore IV Ghica in Wallachia , Ioan Sturdza ( Ioniţă Sandu Sturdza ) in Moldavia . The changes in the situation were to be confirmed by the Treaty of Adrianople and Russian occupation ( at the end of the Russo - Turkish War ) . Although the scope of his movement appealed to generations of Romanian nationalists , Tudor Vladimirescu ' s most favorable treatment came with the official ideology of the " Romanian People ' s Republic " ( the first period of Communist Romania , lasting from 1948 to 1965 ) . He was considered progressive , and it also contributed that he viewed himself as an ally to the Russian cause — almost as a precursor of the Soviet alliance . The Romanian film " Tudor " ( 1962 ) narrated his life from the return home in 1812 to his death . Tudor , portrayed by Emanoil Petruţ , falls from his horse after being shot in the back , claiming to return " as the grass of spring " . A division bearing his name ( " Divizia Tudor Vladimirescu " ) was formed by the Red Army with Romanian prisoners of war who had fought on the Eastern Front . They were called on to fight the Ion Antonescu pro - Nazi Germany regime , and were absorbed into the Romanian Army after 1944 . The Division had its precedent in an artillery battery of the same name , grouping Romanian volunteers in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War . An Order of Tudor Vladmirescu was also created .