IN: Mihail Kogalniceanu (Romanian pronunciation: [miha'il kog@lni'tSeanu] ( listen); also known as Mihail Cogalniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; 6 September 1817 - 1 July 1891) was a Moldavian, later Romanian liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on 11 October 1863, after the 1859 union of the Danubian Principalities under Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and later served as Foreign Minister under Carol I. He was several times Interior Minister under Cuza and Carol. A polymath, Kogalniceanu was one of the most influential Romanian intellectuals of his generation. Siding with the moderate liberal current for most of his lifetime, he began his political career as a collaborator of Prince Mihail Sturdza, while serving as head of the Iasi Theater and issuing several publications together with the poet Vasile Alecsandri and the activist Ion Ghica.

Born in Iasi, he belonged to the Kogalniceanu family of Moldavian boyars, being the son of Vornic Ilie Kogalniceanu, and the great-grandson of Constantin Kogalniceanu (noted for having signed his name to a 1749 document issued by Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos, through which serfdom was disestablished in Moldavia). Mihail's mother, Catinca nee Stavilla (or Stavilla), was, according to Kogalniceanu's own words, "[from] a Romanian family in Bessarabia". The author took pride in noting that "my family has never searched its origins in foreign countries or peoples". Nevertheless, in a speech he gave shortly before his death, Kogalniceanu commented that Catinca Stavilla had been the descendant of "a Genoese family, settled for centuries in the Genoese colony of Cetatea Alba (Akerman), whence it then scattered throughout Bessarabia". During Milhail Kogalniceanu's lifetime, there was confusion regarding his exact birth year, with several sources erroneously indicating it as 1806; in his speech to the Romanian Academy, he acknowledged this, and gave his exact birth date as present in a register kept by his father. It was also then that he mentioned his godmother was Marghioala Calimach, a Callimachi boyaress who married into the Sturdza family, and was the mother of Mihail Sturdza (Kogalniceanu's would-be protector and foe). Kogalniceanu was educated at Trei Ierarhi monastery in Iasi, before being tutored by Gherman Vida, a monk who belonged to the Transylvanian School, and who was an associate of Gheorghe Sincai. He completed his primary education in Miroslava, where he attended the Cuenim boarding school. It was during this early period that he first met the poet Vasile Alecsandri (they studied under both Vida and Cuenim), Costache Negri and Cuza. At the time, Kogalniceanu became a passionate student of history, beginning his investigations into old Moldavian chronicles. With support from Prince Sturdza, Kogalniceanu continued his studies abroad, originally in the French city of Luneville (where he was cared for by Sturdza's former tutor, the abbe Lhomme), and later at the University of Berlin. Among his colleagues was the future philosopher Grigore Sturdza, son of the Moldavian monarch. His stay in Luneville was cut short by the intervention of Russian officials, who were supervising Moldavia under the provisions of the Regulamentul Organic regime, and who believed that, through the influence of Lhomme (a participant in the French Revolution), students were being infused with rebellious ideas; all Moldavian students, including Sturdza's sons and other noblemen, were withdrawn from the school in late 1835, and reassigned to Prussian education institutions.

where did he go to school?

OUT: Kogalniceanu was educated at Trei Ierarhi monastery in Iasi, before being tutored by Gherman Vida,

IN: Allen was born in New York City, son of Billy (Carroll Abler) and Isabelle Allen (nee Donohue), a husband and wife vaudeville comedy team. He was raised on the South Side of Chicago largely by his mother's Irish Catholic family. Milton Berle called Allen's mother "the funniest woman in vaudeville". Allen's first radio job was on station KOY in Phoenix, Arizona, after he left Arizona State Teachers College (now Arizona State University) in Tempe while still a sophomore.

Allen, a freethinker and humanist, became an outspoken critic of organized religion and an active member of the scientific skepticism movement. He worked to promote critical thinking with such humanist and skeptical organizations as the Council for Media Integrity, a group that debunked pseudoscientific claims, and the California-based group The Skeptics Society. He wrote many pieces for their publication, Skeptic, on such topics as the Church of Scientology, genius, and the passing of science fiction giant Isaac Asimov. Working with Paul Kurtz, publisher of Prometheus Books, Allen published 15 books, including Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking with 101 Ways to Reason Better and Improve Your Mind, which was reissued in 1998. He produced Gullible's Travels, an audiotape with original music and script that was read and sung by him and his wife "in order to introduce youngsters to the brain and its proper use." Wishing to counter the influence of the American religious right, Allen wrote both a 1990 critique of the Bible (Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion and Morality) as well as a sequel. A sample passage from the book that illustrated his view of the Judeo-Christian God reads: The proposition that the entire human race -- consisting of enormous hordes of humanity -- would be placed seriously in danger of a fiery eternity characterized by unspeakable torments purely because a man disobeyed a deity by eating a piece of fruit offered him by his wife is inherently incredible. In 2011 Allen was selected for inclusion in the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry's Pantheon of Skeptics.

What other organizations did he work with?

OUT:
Skeptics Society.