Simion Bughici (b. Simon David, December 14, 1914 – February 1, 1997) was a

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 ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician who served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is the ministry responsible for external affairs of the Government of Romania, Romanian Government. The current foreign minister is Emil Hurezeanu. List of ministers of foreign affairs (1862–1989) ...

Life and career

Bughici was born in

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 ...

to a Jewish family of

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

musicians; his father and two brothers perished during the June 1941

Iași pogrom The Iași pogrom (, sometimes anglicized as Jassy) was a series of pogroms launched by governmental forces under Marshal and Leader Ion Antonescu in the Romanian city of Iași against its History of the Jews in Iași, Jewish community, which la ...

. He joined the banned

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 ...

in 1933. He worked as a weaver at the Adriana factory in Iași, and was active in communist organizations in the

Bistrița (; , archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , ) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of 78,877 inhabitants as of 2021 and administers s ...

Trotuș The Trotuș () is a river in eastern Romania, a right tributary of the river Siret. It emerges from the Ciuc Mountains in the Eastern Carpathians and joins the Siret in Domnești-Sat near Adjud after passing through Comănești and Onești in Ba ...

, and

Prahova Valley Prahova Valley (Romanian: ''Valea Prahovei'') is the valley where the Prahova river makes its way between the Bucegi and the Baiu Mountains, in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. It is a tourist region, situated about north of the capital c ...

regions. In 1935 he was arrested and sentenced to 5 years of prison by the

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

tribunal; held at Doftana Prison, he was released in 1940. Soon after he was re-arrested and sent to the Caracal and Târgu Jiu internment camps. During

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 ...

, Bughici was imprisoned at

Vapniarka concentration camp The Vapniarka concentration camp was a Romania, Romanian-administered concentration camp established in occupied Transnistria Governorate in Vapniarka, Ukraine during the Second World War. History Soon after Romania, under the leadership of I ...

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

. In March 1944 he escaped during the transfer from the Grosulovo camp to Târgu Jiu. After the installation of Communist rule, Bughici served as an Ambassador of Romania to

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1949–1952. In July 1952, he was appointed

, replacing

Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's List of Romanian Foreign Ministers, foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world' ...

, who was sacked by the communist leadership aided by

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 ...

. The appointment of Bughici disassociated Pauker's downfall from the anti-Semitism widely seen in Eastern Europe at the time. Bughici served as minister until October 1955. During his political career, he also served as the Vice

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania (), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania (), is the head of the Government of Romania, Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled ''President of the Council of Ministers'' (), when ...

. Other offices that he held were that of head of Centrocoop, Minister of the Food Industry and vice president of the Communist Party Control Commission (Colegiul Central de Partid) (1969–1974). He served as a deputy in the Great National Assembly for several constituencies from 1948 to 1975. In 1971, Bughici was awarded the

Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic The Order of the Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania (), from 1948 to 1965 the Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic (), was the second-highest honor bestowed by the Socialist Republic of Romania (known as the Romanian People's ...

, First class. He was married to Ana Friedman, a history teacher and school principal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bughici, Simion 1914 births 1997 deaths Politicians from Iași Jews from Western Moldavia Jewish Romanian politicians Romanian Communist Party politicians Inmates of Doftana prison Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp Survivors of World War II deportations to Transnistria Ambassadors of Romania to the Soviet Union Ministers of foreign affairs of Romania Deputy prime ministers of Romania Heads of Centrocoop Members of the Great National Assembly Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic

Life and career

See also

References