Radu Theodoru (born 17 January 1924) is a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

writer,

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

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 ...

politician, and

Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...

. In 2025, Theodoru was detained by

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 ...

on accusations of attempting to overthrow the government with alleged

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n support.

Biography

Theodoru was born in Ineu on 17 January 1924. During the communist era, his writings belonged to the socialist realism movement. Theodoru is a far-right politician and general who engaged in Holocaust denial. A former member 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 ...

, Theodoru was among the founders of the Greater Romania Party, holding the position of vice-president, but he was ousted from the party after a conflict with the then-president of the party, Corneliu Vadim Tudor. In 2025, he was detained by the Romanian government after prosecutors accused him of trying to overthrow the government with alleged

n support. He was 101 years old when his house was raided during the government investigation into the planned coup. The criminal charge is

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'', ''

HotNews HotNews is one of the oldest and biggest Romanian news sites focused mainly on general topics, finance, politics, and current affairs. The website constantly publishes news, interviews, video documentaries, and opinion pieces. History The webs ...

'', ''

Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'' state that he is an

antisemite Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Theodoru is an admirer of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, because "he sought to destroy

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

". He also admires Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. Far-right Romanian politician Diana Șoșoacă has publicly supported Theodoru. After Theodoru's arrest, presidential candidate and former Prime Minister

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...

also supported Theodoru, claiming that "political opinions are not crimes". On 11 June 2025 participated in a pre-celebration reception ahead of Russia day at the Russian embassy in Bucharest, together with Șoșoacă.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodoru, Radu 1924 births Living people People from Ineu Antisemitism in Romania Anti-Zionism in Romania Christian fascists Critics of Freemasonry Eastern Orthodoxy and far-right politics Fascist politicians in Europe Greater Romania Party politicians Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian conspiracy theorists Romanian fascists Romanian generals Romanian Holocaust deniers Romanian male writers Romanian men centenarians Romanian science fiction writers Socialist realism writers