Chivu Stoica (the family name being Chivu; 8 August 1908 – 18 February 1975) was a leading

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

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who served as the 48th Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Romania.

Early life

Stoica was born in Smeeni,

Buzău County Buzău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 432,054 and the population density was 70.7/km ...

, the sixth child of a ploughman. Paula Mihailov Chiciuc
"Din înaltul ordin al partidului"
, '' Jurnalul Național'', July 18, 2006 At age 12, after 5 years of elementary school, he left home, and started working as an apprentice at

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) was the state railway carrier of Romania. The company was dissolved on 1 October 1998 by splitting into several successor companies. CFR as an entity existed from 1880, even though the first ra ...

, the state railway corporation. In 1921, he moved to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, where he worked as a boilermaker at the Vulcan, Lemaître, and Malaxa companies. He joined the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ), serving as secretary for the Blue Sector of Bucharest until 1929. At the Malaxa works, he met Gheorghe Vasilichi, who recruited him into the Communist Party (PCR) in 1931.

Career

IICCR DA023 Craiova prison Dej Stoica Vasilichi Doncea Petrescu Rozemberg

In spring 1931, Stoica started working for the Grivița Railway Yards, where he met Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Vasile Luca, and Constantin Doncea; together, they started organizing a strike. On 20 August 1934, he was sentenced to 15 years of prison for his role in the Grivița Strike of 1933. Stelian Tănase
''Dej – omul resentimentului''
, from Magazin Istoric He spent time at the Aiud, Doftana,

Târgu Ocna Târgu Ocna (; ) is a town in Bacău County, Romania. It administers two villages, Poieni and Vâlcele. The town is situated on the left bank of the Trotuș River, an affluent of the Siret, and on a branch railway which crosses the Ghimeș Pa ...

, Văcărești, and Caransebeș prisons. In 1935–1936 he was at

Ocnele Mari Prison Ocnele Mari Prison was a prison located in Ocnele Mari, Vâlcea County, Romania. History Early years Prior to the communist regime, the prison was for common criminals with life terms, forced to work in the nearby salt mine. Mihail Gheorghiu B ...

, together with Gheorghiu-Dej. In 1940, his sentence was reduced to 9 years of hard labor. Later, the War Council of the 1st Army Corps pardoned him, but he was interned in the Târgu Jiu camp. At the internment camp, he was close to Gheorghiu-Dej, who may have wanted Stoica to be his successor as

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party from 1945 to 1975, and a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. He was Prime Minister of Romania between 1955 and 1961 and President of the

State Council of Romania The State Council () was the executive authority of Communist Romania from 1961 to 1989. It was the collective head of state before the creation of the office of President in 1974. Powers 1961–1974 The State Council was created in 1961 with a ...

(de facto head of state) from 1965 until 1967. Stoica was awarded the Order of the Crown of Romania in the rank of Grand Officer (1947), the Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic, 1st class (1948, 1958), the , 1st class (1959), the title of

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

and the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal (1958), the , 1st class (1959), the , 1st class (1966), and the title of Hero of the Socialist Republic of Romania (1973).

Death

He died aged 66 at his residence in the exclusive Primăverii neighborhood of Bucharest. His death, by a Holland & Holland hunting rifle bullet to the head, was ruled a suicide.

Family

Stoica had three wives. With the first one he had a daughter, Cornelia. His second wife was Ecaterina Micu-Chivu (née Klein), a communist activist who worked after 1947 for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Romanian–Soviet Institute, and the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, and was a professor at Politehnica University until 1955. The couple had a daughter, Ana; they also adopted a son, but later revoked the adoption. His third wife was Maria Chivu (née Manolescu), an engineer and a party and union activist.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoica, Chivu 1908 births 1975 deaths People from Buzău County Heads of state of Romania Prime ministers of Romania Deputy prime ministers of Romania State Council of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian Communist Party politicians Boilermakers Căile Ferate Române people Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp Inmates of Aiud prison Inmates of Doftana prison Inmates of Târgu Ocna Prison Inmates of Văcărești Prison Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Lion Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic 1975 suicides Romanian politicians who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in Romania