Marian Munteanu
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Marian Munteanu (born 19 June 1962, in Grădiștea,
Comana, Giurgiu Comana is a commune in Giurgiu County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Comana, Vlad Țepeș, Budeni, Falaștoaca, and Grădiștea. The commune is approximately south of Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and lar ...
,
Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...
) is a former leader of the anti-government protests that took place in 1990 in
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 ...
against the National Salvation Front (FSN). The anti-government protests were ended violently by the intervention of the miners from
Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( , ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity ...
(known as the first
Mineriad The mineriads () were a series of protests and often violent altercations by Jiu Valley miners in Bucharest during the 1990s, particularly 1990–91. The term "mineriad" is also used to refer to the most significant and violent of these encount ...
). During the early 1990s, he was also the leader of the
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
political organization "Mișcarea pentru România" (''The Movement for Romania''). At the same time, Munteanu was the leader of the Students' League, which was one of the organizers of the protests against
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
's first rule in post-1989 Romania. On 14 June 1990, he was severely beaten. A miner was later imprisoned for
attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...
following witnesses' declarations that he had tried to kill Munteanu with an axe. He was arrested and detained at
Jilava Prison Jilava Prison () is a prison located in Jilava, a village south of Bucharest, Romania. History The prison began as Fort 13, part of the fortifications of Bucharest built in the 1870s and 1880s. It served as an arms deposit and garrison until 1 ...
between June 18 and August 2, 1990. As a leader of "Mișcarea pentru România" (defunct since 1996), he wrote several articles expressing his admiration for the
Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
, a local
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
movement active before
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 ...
. Consequently, he has been condemned for anti-semitic discourse by various public figures, most notably literary critic
Nicolae Manolescu Nicolae Manolescu (; 27 November 1939 – 23 March 2024) was a Romanian literary critic. Elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy in 1997, he was upgraded to titular member in 2013. Life and career Manolescu was born in Râmnicu ...
. In 2000, Munteanu was presented as a presidential candidate by the party led by Virgil Măgureanu, 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 and first head of the
Romanian Intelligence Service The Romanian Intelligence Service (, abbreviated SRI) is Romania's main domestic intelligence service. Its role is to gather information relevant to national security and hand it over to relevant institutions, such as Romanian Government, presid ...
(SRI), though he eventually withdrew from the race. As of 2011, he was teaching
ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...
,
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
, and
folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
at the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
. Munteanu returned to politics in 2016 after accepting PNL's proposal as candidate for mayor 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 ...
for that year's local elections. The proposal was regarded controversial, coming after the previous candidate,
Ludovic Orban Ludovic Orban (; born 25 May 1963) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was the prime minister of Romania from November 2019 to December 2020. He was president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) between 2017 and 2021, which expelled him sh ...
, was withdrawn as a result of his prosecution for corruption by the
National Anticorruption Directorate The National Anticorruption Directorate (), formerly National Anticorruption Prosecution Office (), is the Romanian agency tasked with preventing, investigating and prosecuting Political corruption, corruption-related offenses (such as bribery, g ...
(DNA). Munteanu has been accused of being a former collaborator of the ''
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 ...
'',
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 ...
's secret police. He was approached by the secret police after he became a confidant of
Petre Țuțea Petre Țuțea (; 6 October 1902 – 3 December 1991) was a Romanian philosopher, journalist, and economist. Biography Early years and the Legionary Movement Petre Țuțea was born in the village of Boteni, Muscel County (now in Argeș ...
, with the purpose of keeping under surveillance the former anti-communist. Munteanu refused to sign an official proof of integrity document, as required of candidates for public positions. Several organizations and even the National Liberal Party (PNL) have filed official requests with the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS), to check the ties he might have had with the ''Securitate'' before 1989. Following public outcry, the National Liberals decided to eventually drop him as party candidate. Later in 2016, Munteanu created a new political movement in order to run in the year's elections for the Parliament.


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1962 births Living people People from Giurgiu County University of Bucharest alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party politicians Inmates of Jilava Prison Romanian activists Romanian nationalists {{Romania-politician-stub