Radu Vasile (; 10 October 1942 – 3 July 2013) was a Romanian politician, historian, and poet. Originally a member of the

Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, officially abbreviated PNȚCD) is a Christian democratic and agrarian political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor ...

(PNȚ-CD), Vasile served as the

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...

between 17 April 1998 and 13 December 1999, and was notably confronted with the last Mineriad (more specifically the

February 1999 Mineriad The February 1999 Mineriad was the last of the six mineriads that occurred in Romania. It began on 16 February 1999, when 2,000–2,500 miners from the Jiu Valley left for Bucharest in around 50 buses as a protest against the 18-year long jail s ...

). Subsequently, between 2000 and 2004, he was elected as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

on behalf the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(PD). In addition to his political career, Vasile published poetry under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

''Radu Mischiu''.

Biography

Vasile was born in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

in 1942, and was raised in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

faith. In 1967, he graduated from the Faculty of History at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princ ...

. For political reasons (his father having been a political prisoner, a lawyer, deceased in 1986), he was barred access to higher education immediately after graduating school.. In 1971 he became a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Economic History at the

Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies The Bucharest University of Economic Studies ( ro, Academia de Studii Economice din București, abbreviated ''ASE'') is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the ''Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies'' ...

(ASE). In 1977 he obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from ASE, and in 1978 he became a lecturer at this institution. After the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...

of 1989, Vasile was elected (with student support) Vice Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at ASE, a position he held until 1992. After 1990 he took refresher studies in European Integration at

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. In 1994 he became a Professor at ASE. He died of colon cancer 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 ...

in 2013, and was buried at the city's

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

Political activity

He became a member of the

(PNȚ-CD) in January 1990. On the party line, Radu Vasile gradually advanced as follows: head of department (Studies Department), alternate member of BCCC after the

(PNȚ-CD) congress in September 1991, spokesman since 1991, senator from Bacău since 1992, Secretary General after the Congress from 1996. Between 1993 and 1994, he was the director of the newspaper "Dreptatea". Since 1993, he has been vice-president of the

Senate of Romania ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-li ...

and vice-president of the Senatorial Budget-Finance Commission (commission for budget, finance, banking and capital market). In the 1996–2000 legislature, Radu Vasile was a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with the Russian Federation and the State of Israel. In the 2000–2004 legislature, Radu Vasile was a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with UNESCO and the Lebanese Republic. Radu Vasile initiated 2 legislative proposals, of which 1 was enacted law. In terms of foreign policy, Radu Vasile also had an important activity, being a founding member of the Central European Forum, along with

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...

(former Prime Minister of France),

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming C ...

(former Chancellor of Germany), and others. He lectured on Romanian history at the "Doctoral Schools" at the Sorbonne and gave over 50 scientific papers at academic sessions in the country and abroad. Radu Vasile was a senator in the 1992–1996, 1996–2000, and 2000–2004 legislatures, last time elected on the lists of the

(PD); he was a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Lebanon and UNESCO. As Prime Minister, he was confronted with the Mineriad of February 1999, solved by the so-called ''Peace of Cozia''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasile, Radu 1942 births 2013 deaths Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party politicians People from Sibiu Romanian Roman Catholics Prime Ministers of Romania Romanian male poets Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Romania Burials at Bellu Cemetery 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian male writers University of Bucharest alumni Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies faculty Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni Romanian economists Mineriads 20th-century Romanian historians