Nicolae Bălcescu (June 29, 1819—November 29, 1852) was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.

Bălcescu's most important work is Românii supt Mihai-Voievod Viteazul ("Romanians under the Rule of Michael the Brave"), which he wrote in exile in 1849 - first published by Alexandru Odobescu in 1860. The volume is history of Michael's campaigns, as the first moment when Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia, came under a single, albeit brief rule. They show Bălcescu's committement to both radicalism and nationalism, his view oscillating between praise of Michael's gestures and criticism of his stance as a supporter of serfdom and privilege.

His final years saw an intense publishing activity, including his study, written in French, Question economique des Principautes Danubiennes, as well as a collaboration with Adam Mickiewicz on La Tribune des Peuples. Stricken by tuberculosis, impoverished, and constantly moving between various locations in France and the Italian Peninsula, he died in Palermo (in the Two Sicilies) at 33 years of age.