Iosif Ardeleanu (born Adler Döme, September 25, 1909 – July 26, 1988) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

-born

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 communist activist and bureaucrat. He was born into a Hungarian-Jewish family in

Salonta Salonta (; , colloquially , ; ) is a municipiu, city in Bihor County, in the geographical region of Crișana, north-western Romania, near the Hungarian border. Population According to the 2021 Romanian census, 2021 census, Salonta has a popu ...

. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he moved with his family to

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

, where he completed his secondary studies. In 1928 he went to

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

, where he was employed for 6 years by an iron commerce firm. During that time he changed his name and married his first wife, Gherghina. Ardeleanu joined 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 ...

(PCR) in 1933, while it was banned, and was a militant in Timișoara, tasked with

Agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

by the party. Arrested in 1934, he was incarcerated for 5 years at prisons in Timișoara,

Caransebeș Caransebeș (; ; , Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a city in Caraș-Severin County, part of the Banat region in southwestern Romania. One village, Jupa (), is administered by the city. The city is located at the confluence of the Timiș River with ...

, and Doftana. From 1939 to 1941, he was the PCR Secretary for the Yellow Sector of

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 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Ardeleanu was detained at the Târgu Jiu internment camp for political prisoners, together with

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian politician. He was the first Socialist Republic of Romania, Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...

, and also at the

Vapniarka concentration camp The Vapniarka concentration camp was a Romania, Romanian-administered concentration camp established in occupied Transnistria Governorate in Vapniarka, Ukraine during the Second World War. History Soon after Romania, under the leadership of I ...

and in Grosulovo. After 1944 he divorced his first wife and in the early 1950s he married Clara Turcu, a manager at the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

under

Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's List of Romanian Foreign Ministers, foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world' ...

. As head of the General Press and Typography Directorate from 1951 to 1973, Ardeleanu was one of the chief enforcers of

censorship in Communist Romania Censorship in Communist Romania occurred during the Socialist Republic in two stages: under the first Communist president Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1947–1965) and the second and last Communist president Nicolae Ceaușescu (1965–1989). Groz ...

. His obtuseness, intolerance and dogmatism became legendary. Between 1956 and 1958, he was part of a team that investigated and monitored the ousted

Imre Nagy Imre Nagy ( ; ; 7 June 1896 – 16 June 1958) was a Hungarian communist politician who served as Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People's Republic, Chairman of the Council of Ministers (''de facto'' Prime Minister of Hungary, Prime Minis ...

-led

Hungarian government The Government of Hungary () exercises executive (government), executive power in Hungary. It is led by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Prime Minister, and is composed of various ministers. It is the principal organ of public administration. The Pr ...

being held under arrest at

Snagov Snagov is a commune, located north of Bucharest, in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. The commune is composed of five villages: Ciofliceni, Ghermănești, Snagov, Tâncăbești, and Vlădiceasca. Snagov is a tourist and spa resort, but the nec ...

.Biografiile nomenklaturii
, at the

Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (, IICCMER), formerly Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania, is a government-sponsored organization whose mission is to investigate t ...

site He retired in 1973 and died in 1988 in Bucharest.

Notes

1909 births 1988 deaths People from Salonta Romanian Communist Party politicians Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp Inmates of Doftana prison Survivors of World War II deportations to Transnistria Romanian censors Romanian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent 20th-century Romanian civil servants {{Romania-bio-stub