NICOLAE CEAUSESCU
Name: Nicolae Ceausescu
Born: 26 January 1918 Scorniceşti, Olt, Romania
Died. 25 December 1989 Târgovişte, Dâmboviţa, Romania
Nicolae Ceausescu (January 26, 1918–December 25, 1989)
was the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when a
revolution and coup removed him from power. The revolutionaries held a two-hour
trial and sentenced him to death for crimes against the state, genocide, and "undermining
the national economy." The hasty trial has been criticized as a kangaroo
court. His subsequent execution marked the final act of the Revolutions
of 1989.
Born in the village of Scorniceşti, Olt County, Ceausescu moved to Bucharest at
the age of 11 to become a shoemaker's apprentice. (See Ceausescu family for
descriptions of his parents and siblings.) He joined the then-illegal Communist
Party of Romania in early 1932 and was first arrested, in 1933, for agitating
during a strike. He was arrested again, in 1934, first for collecting signatures
on a petition protesting the trial of railway workers and twice more for other
similar activities. These arrests earned him the description "dangerous
communist agitator" and "active distributor of communist and anti-fascist
propaganda" on his police record. He then went underground, but was captured and
imprisoned in 1936 for two years at Doftana Prison for anti-fascist activities.
While out of jail in 1939, he met Elena Petrescu (they married in 1946) —she
would play an increasing role in his political life over the decades. He was
arrested and imprisoned again in 1940. In 1943, he was transferred to Târgu Jiu
internment camp where he shared a cell with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, becoming his
protégé. After World War II, when Romania was beginning to fall under Soviet
influence, he served as secretary of the Union of Communist Youth (1944–1945).
After the Communists seized power in Romania in 1947, he headed the ministry of
agriculture, then served as deputy minister of the armed forces under Gheorghe
Gheorghiu-Dej's Stalinist reign. In 1952, Gheorghiu-Dej brought him onto the
Central Committee months after the party's "Muscovite faction" led by Ana Pauker
had been purged. In 1954, he became a full member of the Politburo and
eventually rose to occupy the second-highest position in the party hierarchy.
Name: Nicolae Ceausescu
Born: 26 January 1918 Scorniceşti, Olt, Romania
Died. 25 December 1989 Târgovişte, Dâmboviţa, Romania
Nicolae Ceausescu (January 26, 1918–December 25, 1989)
was the leader of Romania from 1965 until December 1989, when a
revolution and coup removed him from power. The revolutionaries held a two-hour
trial and sentenced him to death for crimes against the state, genocide, and "undermining
the national economy." The hasty trial has been criticized as a kangaroo
court. His subsequent execution marked the final act of the Revolutions
of 1989.
Born in the village of Scorniceşti, Olt County, Ceausescu moved to Bucharest at
the age of 11 to become a shoemaker's apprentice. (See Ceausescu family for
descriptions of his parents and siblings.) He joined the then-illegal Communist
Party of Romania in early 1932 and was first arrested, in 1933, for agitating
during a strike. He was arrested again, in 1934, first for collecting signatures
on a petition protesting the trial of railway workers and twice more for other
similar activities. These arrests earned him the description "dangerous
communist agitator" and "active distributor of communist and anti-fascist
propaganda" on his police record. He then went underground, but was captured and
imprisoned in 1936 for two years at Doftana Prison for anti-fascist activities.
While out of jail in 1939, he met Elena Petrescu (they married in 1946) —she
would play an increasing role in his political life over the decades. He was
arrested and imprisoned again in 1940. In 1943, he was transferred to Târgu Jiu
internment camp where he shared a cell with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, becoming his
protégé. After World War II, when Romania was beginning to fall under Soviet
influence, he served as secretary of the Union of Communist Youth (1944–1945).
After the Communists seized power in Romania in 1947, he headed the ministry of
agriculture, then served as deputy minister of the armed forces under Gheorghe
Gheorghiu-Dej's Stalinist reign. In 1952, Gheorghiu-Dej brought him onto the
Central Committee months after the party's "Muscovite faction" led by Ana Pauker
had been purged. In 1954, he became a full member of the Politburo and
eventually rose to occupy the second-highest position in the party hierarchy.