Dumitru Burlan (born May 11, 1939) is a

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 ...

n former

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

officer. __NOTOC__

Biography

Dumitru Burlan was born on May 11, 1939, in Licurici,

Gorj County Gorj County () is a county () of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu. ''Gorj'' comes from the Slavic ''Gornji'' Jiu (“upper Jiu”), in contrast with Dolnji (“lower Jiu”). Demographics At the 2011 census, the count ...

, in a family of poor peasants with seven children. In 1950, after graduating from primary school in his native village, his father brought him 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 ...

. In the capital, he was enrolled into the military school. In August 1960, at the age of 21, he was ranked as junior lieutenant in the State Security Department. In the 1960s, his hierarchical bosses were Soviet advisers or close-knits, such as

Gheorghe Pintilie Gheorghe Pintilie (born Panteley Timofiy Bodnarenko, ; also rendered as Pintilie Bodnarenco, nicknamed Pantiușa; November 9, 1902 – August 21, 1985) was a Soviet and Romanian intelligence agent and political assassin, who served as first head o ...

, alias Pantiusha Bondarenko. In 1965, when

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

was elected head of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

, Dumitru Burlan worked in the 7th Directorate (Surveillance and Investigations) with the rank of lieutenant-major. In 1989, he had the lieutenant colonel rank, Specialist Officer I at the 5th SSD Directorate. He worked for 30 years in the Securitate, including 22 years in the 5th Directorate. During the communist period, he worked for the

. He was the chief of bodyguards of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, and served once as his stand-in (double), but was not able to protect Ceaușescu from arrest and execution during the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of 1989. Ten years after the revolution, he published his understanding of the revolutionary events and his beliefs about Ceaușescu. After publishing details about the coup, he received several death threats. He declared himself proud of having served Ceaușescu, and he considers Ceaușescu to have been one of the most intelligent and greatest leaders in history. Burlan published his memoirs in 2003.

References

Bibliography

* A series of 3 articles in the Romanian newspaper

Adevărul (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Kingd ...

, 2003

(see archives) titled "I was Ceaușescu's double" ("Eu am fost sosia lui Nicolae Ceaușescu") * Viorel Patrichi
"I was Nicolae Ceaușescu's double" (Eu am fost sosia lui Nicolae Ceaușescu)

Lumea ''Lumea'' (Romanian language, Romanian: ''The World'') was a monthly magazine on international politics published in Bucharest, Romania, between 1963 and 1993. History and profile ''Lumea'' was established by George Ivascu in 1963. It is the succe ...

, Nr 12, 2001 *

Marian Oprea Marian Oprea (born 6 June 1982) is a Romanian athlete, competing in triple jump, who won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. His personal best is 17.81 meters.Lumea ''Lumea'' (Romanian language, Romanian: ''The World'') was a monthly magazine on international politics published in Bucharest, Romania, between 1963 and 1993. History and profile ''Lumea'' was established by George Ivascu in 1963. It is the succe ...

, Nr 10, 2004 *

Victor Stănculescu Victor Atanasie Stănculescu (10 May 1928 – 19 June 2016) was a Romanian general during the Communist era. He played a central role in the overthrow of the dictatorship by refusing to carry out the orders of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușesc ...

"Nu vă fie milă, au 2 miliarde de lei în cont"
("Do not have pity, they hold 2 billion lei 65 million dollars at the exchange rate of November 22, 2004in their account ), in ''

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchares ...

'', November 22, 2004

External links

The book was launched
(Romanian)

(Romanian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Burlan, Dumitru 1939 births Living people People from Gorj County People of the Romanian revolution Securitate officers Bodyguards Romanian male non-fiction writers