Emil Constantinescu (b. November 19, 1939 in Tighina, currently in Moldova) was a President of Romania (1996 - 2000).

He graduated from the law school of Bucharest University and subsequently started a career as a geologist.

After the Romanian revolution in 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president of the Civic Alliance, the most comprehensive organization of Romanian civic society. He was the acting chairman of the Romanian Anti-Totalitarian Forum, the first associative structure of the democratic opposition in Romania, which was transformed into a political and electoral alliance - the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR).

In 1992 he was elected rector of Bucharest University and became CDR's candidate for president. He lost the election to the incumbent, Ion Iliescu, after a second round. In 1996, however, the CDR won the general elections for the two chambers of the Parliament and Emil Constantinescu was elected president of Romania, defeating Iliescu.

Constantinescu did not run for a second term as President, and temporarily withdrew from political life at the end of his term in November 2000. However, he returned to the political scene in 2002 as head of the Acţiunea populară (People's Action) party.

On the international level, he is committed to the integration of Romania into the European Union and NATO structures; to the strengthening of bilateral links with other countries as well as to the implementation of trilateral political and economic agreements among states.