Ivan Ivanovich Bodiul (russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Бо́дюл; – 27 January 2013) was a

Soviet 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, ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

n politician prominent in the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

, particularly during the

Brezhnev era Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1 ...

. He was primarily responsible for the controversial decision to amend the

Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The State Anthem of the Moldavian SSR, Moldovan Cyrillic: Имнул де Стат ал РСС Молдовенешть; russian: Гимн Молдавской ССР, Gimn Moldavskoj SSR was the regional anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Social ...

in 1980. It was the best anthem of the Soviet Republics (according to the 1950 musical competition).

Early life

Bodiul was born in 1918, in Oleksandrivka, Mykolaiv Oblast, in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In spite of his Moldavian origin, he was a poor speaker of the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

. After graduating in 1937 from the local agricultural college, he worked as a senior agronomist on a collective farm. From 1938-1942, he was a student of the Military Veterinary Academy of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where in 1940 he joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. After graduating from the academy, he fought in the regular army as a veterinary officer in the 127th Guards Artillery Regiment of the 59th Guards Rifle Division. After demobilization, as an ethnic Moldovan, he was sent to undertake economic work in the Moldavian SSR. He later became senior agricultural assistant to the Council of Ministers. He then moved up the ranks of the local party structure, first as leader of the Chisinau, Volontirovsky and Olanesti District Committees of the CPM and then as a student of the Higher Party School in

First Secretary

He was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Moldavia, the republic branch of the

from 28 May 1961 to 30 December 1980. Bodiul was one of the most authoritarian rulers of

Soviet Moldavia The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

. During first part of his rule, his policy concerns and actions were centred on

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

. A number of dissidents were imprisoned, including members of the Communist Party, while others were punished. His main supporters were the 2nd Secretaries of the Communist Party (

Yuri Melkov Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. * Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Ja ...

until 1973 and Nikolay Merenishchev from 1973–1981), who came from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

, whose Moldavian chairmen were

Ivan Savchenko Ivan Tikhonovich Savchenko (1908-2000) was a Soviet Communist Party and KGB executive. Savchenko made a career as a political officer in the Red Army during World War II. A protégé of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, Savchenko transferred t ...

(until 1966),

Piotr Chvertko Piotr Vladimirovich Chvertko (, born on 3 October 1915) was a Soviet politician who was the 4th Chairman of the Committee for State Security of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Committee for State Security (KGB) of the Moldavian Soviet Soci ...

(1966–1974) and

Arkady Ragozin Arkady (russian: Арка́дий, Arkadiy) is a Slavic masculine given name, ultimately derived from the Greek name Αρκάδιος, meaning “from Arcadia”. The Latin equivalent is Arcadius. Notable people with the name include: People: * ...

(1974–1979). Bodiul continued the fight for

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

, during which many churches were closed or destroyed. In the second part of his rule (from 1976 onwards), the anti-national policy was less harsh, and economic development expanded in the Moldavian SSR. Bodiul was known as one of the most loyal followers of

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...

, a predecessor in his role as Moldavian First Secretary. Nicolae Ceausescu si Ivan Bodiul

In December 1976, Bodiul and his wife, Claudia, were the first high-level Soviet Moldavian visitors to

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...

since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. At one of his meetings in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, Bodiul said that "the good relationship was initiated by Ceauşescu's visit to Soviet Moldavia, which led to the expansion of contacts and exchanges in all fields." In August 1976, Bodiul had met Ceauşescu and his wife at the frontier and escorted them to Chişinău.

Move to Moscow and retirement

He served as Deputy Chairman of the

Council of Ministers of the USSR The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...

from 1980 to May 1985, when he retired from active politics to a dacha in the

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally "under Moscow"), is a federal subject of Rus ...

as the reformist

Gorbachev era Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

commenced. He obtained a PhD in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

in 1985. He died on January 27, 2013 in

. His daughters, Svetlana and Natalia Bodiul, live in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Awards

Bodiul was decorated by many Soviet orders and medals, including 4 Orders of Lenin. On 3 January 2003, Bodiul was decorated by the Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin with the Order of the Republic, "for long and prodigious work in the supreme organs of state power, substantial contribution to the development Republic of Moldova on the occasion of his 85th birthday." His decoration provoked the protest of the Writers' Union of Moldova, who renounced their own Orders of the Republic in protest.

References

* *** – ''Enciclopedia sovietică moldovenească'' ( Chişinău, 1970–1977)

External links