Leonte Filipescu (September 18, 1895 – April 13, 1922) was one of the leaders of the early

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 movement, shot in custody by the Romanian authorities. Leonte Filipescu was born in a family of workers in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

. He worked from an early age, first as a dock labourer in the port of

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

, and after 1910 as a

waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...

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 ...

, Romania's capital. In Bucharest he met several trade unionist active in the waiter's guild, such as

Gheorghe Niculescu-Mizil Gheorghe is a Romanian and Aromanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu (1869–1942), Romanian literary historian and bibliographer * Ghe ...

, Iancu Olteanu, and Marian Cristescu, who introduced him to socialist ideas. He took part in several waiters' protests, and, after the start of

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 ...

, in the anti-war demonstrations organised in Bucharest by the Socialists. In the meantime, he also joined the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, sitting on its far left wing. As Romania joined the war on the side of the

Entente Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

in 1916, Leonte Filipescu was drafted and sent to the front, but was soon captured by the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

and interned in a concentration camp. He succeeded in escaping along with several prisoners, and by the spring of 1917 he was back in Bucharest, taking part in the demonstration organised by the Socialists in front of the German Army Headquarters in occupied Romania. In 1918 he was one of the editors of the socialist manifest ''Trăiască Socialismul'' ("Long live Socialism"), and advocated its distribution by bypassing the military censorship. In the first post-war years, Leonte Filipescu became one of the leaders of the left-wing grouping of the

Socialist Party of Romania Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and so ...

, and participated in the organisation of several strikes and mass demonstrations in Bucharest. In July 1919 he began contributing to the left-wing journal ''Federația'', advocating

communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, the term socialism can be used to indicate an intermediate stage between ...

and the transformation of the Romanian society into a

socialist society The Socialist Society was founded in 1981 by a group of British socialists, including Raymond Williams and Ralph Miliband, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Part ...

. Following the authorities crackdown on the 1920 Romanian general strike, which he helped organise, he went into hiding, while continuing to spread pro-socialist manifestos and pamphlets. During the January–February 1921 conference of the General Council of the Socialist Party and Trade Unions, Leonte Filipescu was one of the advocates of the party's affiliation with the

Third International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internation ...

, and its transformation into a communist party. The same year he went to

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, in eastern Romania, where he organised, along with

Pavel Tcacenco Pavel Tcacenco or Tkachenko (; born Yakov Antipov or Antip, ; 7 April?, 1892/1899/1901 – 5 September 1926) was an Russian Empire, Imperial Russian-born Romanian communist activist, a leading member of the communist movements of Bessarabia and R ...

, the Socialist Conference of March 3–6. During the talks, he reiterated his support for the transformation of the Socialist Party into a communist one. Narrowly escaping capture during the crackdown on the Conference, he left for Bulgaria, missing the May Congress of the Socialist Party which saw its transformation into the

Communist Party of Romania 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 sys ...

. Returning in Romania at the end of July 1921, he found most of the leadership of the Communist Party in prison, so he took part in the organisation of a provisional leadership, assuming the control of the party's

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

. He worked in gathering support for the communist imprisoned at

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as ...

, Văcărești, and Doftana among the workers in Bucharest's factories. In October 1921 he was captured by the secret police, and became one of the main defendants in the

Dealul Spirii Trial Dealul Spirii Trial (Romanian language, Romanian: ''Procesul din Dealul Spirii'') was a political trial conducted from January to June 1922 by a military tribunal in the Kingdom of Romania. 271 members of the Communist Party of Romania were accuse ...

. While in prison, he contracted a severe form of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Due to his health problems, he was granted severance, and was moved to a military prison in Bucharest. In April 1922 he was summoned to appear as a witness in the main trial, and the authorities decided to have him transferred to Jilava Prison, despite Leonte's opposition. On the night of April 13/14, during the transport, he was shot in the head and in the heart, ostensibly because he was attempting to escape. His assassination provoked outrage among Romanian workers and in the press. In the 1960s, his remains were moved to the ''Monument of the Heroes for the Freedom of the People and of the Motherland, for Socialism'', in what is now

Carol Park Carol I Park () is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. A French garden located in the southern-central area of Bucharest, partly on Filaret Hill, originally capable of hosting various exhibitions, it suffer ...

, in

, where they remained until 1991. A street in

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 ...

now called

Nicolae Filipescu Nicolae Filipescu (December 5, 1862 – September 30, 1916) was a Romanian politician. Filipescu was the Mayor of Bucharest between February 1893 and October 1895. It was during his term the first electric tramways circulated in Bucharest. Betwe ...

bore his name. A street in

Voluntari Voluntari () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located at a distance of 1 km from the northern border of Bucharest (on the DN2 road towards Urziceni) and is thus frequently viewed as a suburb of Bucharest. The population ...

was also named after him, but it now bears the name of

Gheorghe Dinică Gheorghe Dinică (; 1 January 1934 – 10 November 2009) was a Romanian actor. Career Dinică showed an early interest in acting, being part of different amateur theater troupes since he was 17. In 1957, he entered The National Institute of Thea ...

References

* Felea, Ion (1970). "Leonte Filipescu" in ''Anale de Istorie'', Vol. XVI, Nr. 2. Institutul de Studii Istorice și Social-Politice de pe lîngă C.C. al P.C.R, Bucharest. pp. 121–124. {{DEFAULTSORT:Filipescu, Leonte 1895 births 1922 deaths People from Bârlad Dealul Spirii Trial Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian military personnel of World War I Social Democratic Party of Romania (1910–1918) politicians Inmates of Jilava Prison Assassinated Romanian politicians Extrajudicial killings by the Kingdom of Romania Deaths by firearm in Romania People murdered in Romania Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Politicians assassinated in the 1920s