Ștefan Andrei (; 29 March 1931 – 31 August 2014) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1978 to 1985. He was arrested after the 1989 overthrow of the

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

regime.

Early life

Andrei was born to a very poor family in

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

, where the Romanian communist leader

was also from. While a child he was a shepherd but, willing to continue his education, he eventually made his way into the leadership of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party. His doctoral thesis at the university covered the subject of international communist movements and was later used as reference in the central committee. In one of his articles on socialism he had published a few days before an official visit by the General Secretary of the CP of China,

Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (; 20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1987, first as Chairman from 1981 to 1982, then as Gene ...

, he said: Andrei was often considered a very literate and benevolent man, a famous book collector enriching his collection from his trips abroad. He was also seen as a good husband and family man. He was married to the Romanian movie actress

Violeta Andrei Violeta Andrei (; born 29 March 1941) is a Romanian theater and film actress. Biography Andrei was born on 29 March 1941 in Brașov, Romania. After completing high school at the Școala Centrală National College in Bucharest, she graduated in 1 ...

Political career

Andrei was first appointed Deputy Chief of the International Section of the Central Committee and encouraged to develop ties with foreign communist governments and movements around the world . Then in April 1972, he became the Secretary for Foreign Relations of the Central Committee and in November 1974, he rose to membership on the Permanent Bureau of the Political Executive Committee of Romania. On 8 March 1978 he was eventually appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As a Minister, Andrei attempted to decrease dependence of Romania on

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

by directing its foreign policy towards developing ASEAN countries of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

while also enhancing trade, economic and educational exchange with African countries of Guinea,

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, Burundi, Sudan and

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

which also diversified Romania's energy imports. During his years in service to the Ceaușescu regime, he was also a personal advisor to the younger son of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Nicu Ceaușescu. His term as the Minister of Foreign Affairs ended on 11 November 1985 when he was reportedly sacked by the First Lady

Elena Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu (; ; 7 January 1916 – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania. She was also ...

who then appointed her protégé, Ilie Văduva to take over. Andrei was subsequently appointed the Secretary of the Central Committee in charge of economic matters. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he was arrested and sentenced by a Romanian Military Court to two years and ten months in prison for supporting the bloody crackdown in 1989. He served at least part of his sentence at the Jilava prison hospital. Andrei died on 31 August 2014 in Snagov at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrei, Stefan 1931 births 2014 deaths People from Dolj County Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Romanian politicians convicted of crimes

Early life

Political career

See also

References