Grigore Preoteasa
Encyclopedia
Grigore Preoteasa was a Romania
n communist
activist, journalist, and politician, who served as Communist Romania
's Minister of Foreign Affairs between October 4, 1955 and the time of his death.
as the son of a worker for the Romanian Railways
(CFR), he attended the University of Bucharest
's Faculty of Letters during the 1930s, and began his association with the Romanian Communist Party
(PCR or PCdR) during the Griviţa Strike
. First arrested the following year, he was repeatedly sentenced to prison terms (in Jilava
, Doftana
, Craiova
, Miercurea-Ciuc
, and Caracal
).
After 1936, Preoteasa joined the leadership of the Democratic Students' Front (Frontul Studenţesc Democrat or Frontul Democratic Universitar), an anti-fascist
organization created by the PCR in opposition to Iron Guard
influence and headed by Gheorghe Rădulescu, Miron Constantinescu
, and Constanţa Crăciun. He was consequently one of the most important cadres involved in agitprop
, but, like his fellow activists Ion Popescu-Puţuri, Alexandru Iliescu, and Grigore Răceanu
, appears to have been occasionally critical of guidelines imposed on the PCR by the Soviet Union
and the Comintern
.
A contributor to the PCR's illegal newspaper România Liberă
, he was interned
with other opponents of the Ion Antonescu
dictatorship at a camp in Târgu Jiu
for the larger part of World War II
; despite Preoteasa's imprisonment, materials signed in his name can be found in România Liberă
issues from that same period — this has been attributed to 1950s forgery by the Communist Party's History Section (printing issues that had never existed was meant to mask the group's inactivity during World War II
).
He escaped together with his friend Nicolae Ceauşescu
in the summer of 1944, before Antonescu's toppling (see Romania during World War II
). As two among the few intellectual
s to stand at the party's forefront, Preoteasa and Constantinescu initially approached the group around Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
in opposition to General Secretary
Ştefan Foriş
, but, after Foriş was deposed, sided with new leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
(the latter was sympathetic to Preoteasa, having worked with his father at the Griviţa
CFR facilities in Bucharest).
Serving as editor in chief of România Liberă between late 1944 and 1946 and press officer in the propaganda Ministry (after 1945), he frequently attacked the opposition to the PCR-backed Petru Groza
cabinet, and wrote against the National Peasants' Party
in particular.
He was gradually promoted by Gheorghiu-Dej after their faction won supremacy inside the Romanian Workers' Party (PMR, the new name of the PCR after 1947). Selected a member of the Central Committee
in December 1955, replacing Leonte Răutu as head of the Propaganda Section, he became secretary of the Central Committee and deputy member of the Politburo
in June 1957. He was probably seen by Gheorghiu-Dej as a replacement for Răutu, who was by then falling out of favor.
As minister, Preoteasa was noted for handling the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and for detaining on Romanian soil those Hungarian
politicians who had been captured by the Soviets — including Imre Nagy
(kept in a Securitate
building in Snagov
) and Georg Lukács
. Following a request from János Kádár
, Romanian authorities referred to many of these arrests as "granting asylum", implying that the Soviets had extended their protection in the face of counterrevolution. His government office was taken over by Ion Gheorghe Maurer
in July 1957.
A member of the PMR delegation to the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution
in Moscow
(alongside Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica
, Alexandru Moghioroş, Ştefan Voitec
, Ceauşescu, and Răutu), Preoteasa died at Vnukovo International Airport
, minutes after their Aeroflot
aircraft missed the landing field and caught fire. According to witnesses, Preoteasa was the only person standing at the time, telling others that he was glad not to have been asked to wear a seat belt
; when control of the airplane was lost, he remarked, probably in jest, "This was not in the schedule", which were to be his last words.
Recurring speculations that the incident had been specifically designed to kill Preoteasa, or that it was meant by the Soviets for Gheorghiu-Dej as relations between the latter and Nikita Khrushchev
had soured dramatically, are contradicted by the fact that Ceauşescu, Răutu, and other passengers all sustained serious injuries while the Soviet crew was killed. Commentators tend to agree that his death did facilitate Ceauşescu's maneuvering for power after 1964.
; previously married to Adrian Năstase
, who was Prime Minister of Romania in 2000-2004, she emigrated to the United States
.
His name was given to the Bucharest House for Student Culture and kept until the Romanian Revolution of 1989
. The name endured as a common reference for the club after that date: "La Preoteasa" ("In Preoteasa") is the name of a song performed by Romanian rock band Sarmalele Reci
on their first album Ţara te vrea prost.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
activist, journalist, and politician, who served as Communist Romania
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
's Minister of Foreign Affairs between October 4, 1955 and the time of his death.
Biography
Born in BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
as the son of a worker for the Romanian Railways
Caile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române is the official designation of the state railway carrier of Romania. Romania has a railway network of of which are electrified and the total track length is . The network is significantly interconnected with other European railway networks, providing pan-European passenger...
(CFR), he attended the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
's Faculty of Letters during the 1930s, and began his association with the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
(PCR or PCdR) during the Griviţa Strike
Grivita Strike of 1933
The Grivița Strike of 1933 was a railway strike which was started at the Grivița Workshops, Bucharest, Romania, on 16 February 1933 by workers of Căile Ferate Române . The strike was brought about by the increasingly poor working conditions of railway employees in the context of the worldwide Great...
. First arrested the following year, he was repeatedly sentenced to prison terms (in Jilava
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "humid place". Jilava was the location of a fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system...
, Doftana
Doftana prison
Doftana was a Romanian prison. Built in 1895, it was used in the 1930s to detain political prisoners, among them the future president Nicolae Ceauşescu. It is situated close to the village with the same name, in the Telega commune...
, Craiova
Craiova
Craiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
, Miercurea-Ciuc
Miercurea-Ciuc
Miercurea-Ciuc is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt River valley.The city administers three villages:* Ciba / Csiba...
, and Caracal
Caracal
The caracal is a fiercely territorial medium-sized cat ranging over Western Asia, South Asia and Africa.The word caracal comes from the Turkish word "karakulak", meaning "black ear". In North India and Pakistan, the caracal is locally known as syahgosh or shyahgosh, which is a Persian term...
).
After 1936, Preoteasa joined the leadership of the Democratic Students' Front (Frontul Studenţesc Democrat or Frontul Democratic Universitar), an anti-fascist
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
organization created by the PCR in opposition to Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
influence and headed by Gheorghe Rădulescu, Miron Constantinescu
Miron Constantinescu
Miron Constantinescu was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party , as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, and journalist...
, and Constanţa Crăciun. He was consequently one of the most important cadres involved in agitprop
Agitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
, but, like his fellow activists Ion Popescu-Puţuri, Alexandru Iliescu, and Grigore Răceanu
Grigore Raceanu
Grigore Ion Răceanu was a Romanian communist politician and opponent of Nicolae Ceauşescu.Born in Cojocna, Cluj County, he became a train driver for Căile Ferate Române. He was also a trade union leader, being one of the organizers of the strikes of Cluj in 1929-1933. He became a member of the...
, appears to have been occasionally critical of guidelines imposed on the PCR by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
.
A contributor to the PCR's illegal newspaper România Liberă
România Libera
România Liberă is one of the leading newspapers in Romania. Based in Bucharest, the Romanian-language daily has a paid daily circulation of 40,000....
, he was interned
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
with other opponents of the Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
dictatorship at a camp in Târgu Jiu
Târgu Jiu
Târgu Jiu is the capital of Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight villages are administered by the city: Bârseşti, Drăgoeni, Iezureni, Polata, Preajba Mare, Româneşti, Slobozia and Ursaţi.-History:The city takes its name...
for the larger part of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; despite Preoteasa's imprisonment, materials signed in his name can be found in România Liberă
România Libera
România Liberă is one of the leading newspapers in Romania. Based in Bucharest, the Romanian-language daily has a paid daily circulation of 40,000....
issues from that same period — this has been attributed to 1950s forgery by the Communist Party's History Section (printing issues that had never existed was meant to mask the group's inactivity during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
).
He escaped together with his friend Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
in the summer of 1944, before Antonescu's toppling (see Romania during World War II
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
). As two among the few intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s to stand at the party's forefront, Preoteasa and Constantinescu initially approached the group around Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
Lucretiu Patrascanu
Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania , also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he was a professor at Bucharest University...
in opposition to General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
Ştefan Foriş
Stefan Foris
Ştefan Foriş was a Romanian communist activist and journalist who served as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party between 1940 and 1944....
, but, after Foriş was deposed, sided with new leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965.-Early life:Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana. Gheorghiu-Dej joined the Communist Party of Romania in 1930...
(the latter was sympathetic to Preoteasa, having worked with his father at the Griviţa
Grivita
Griviţa is an area of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Griviţa Railway Yards , which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city...
CFR facilities in Bucharest).
Serving as editor in chief of România Liberă between late 1944 and 1946 and press officer in the propaganda Ministry (after 1945), he frequently attacked the opposition to the PCR-backed Petru Groza
Petru Groza
Petru Groza was a Romanian politician, best known as the Prime Minister of the first Communist Party-dominated governments under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Communist regime in Romania....
cabinet, and wrote against the National Peasants' Party
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party was a Romanian political party, formed in 1926 through the fusion of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and the Peasants' Party . It was in power between 1928 and 1933, with brief interruptions...
in particular.
He was gradually promoted by Gheorghiu-Dej after their faction won supremacy inside the Romanian Workers' Party (PMR, the new name of the PCR after 1947). Selected a member of the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
in December 1955, replacing Leonte Răutu as head of the Propaganda Section, he became secretary of the Central Committee and deputy member of the Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
in June 1957. He was probably seen by Gheorghiu-Dej as a replacement for Răutu, who was by then falling out of favor.
As minister, Preoteasa was noted for handling the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and for detaining on Romanian soil those Hungarian
People's Republic of Hungary
The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to...
politicians who had been captured by the Soviets — including Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy was a Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary on two occasions...
(kept in a Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
building in Snagov
Snagov
Snagov is a commune, located 40 km north of Bucharest in Ilfov County, Romania. According to the 2002 census, 99.2% of the population is ethnic Romanian and 0.4% are Roma...
) and Georg Lukács
Georg Lukács
György Lukács was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic. He is a founder of the tradition of Western Marxism. He contributed the concept of reification to Marxist philosophy and theory and expanded Karl Marx's theory of class consciousness. Lukács' was also an influential literary...
. Following a request from János Kádár
János Kádár
János Kádár was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, presiding over the country from 1956 until his forced retirement in 1988. His thirty-two year term as General Secretary makes Kádár the longest ruler of the People's Republic of Hungary...
, Romanian authorities referred to many of these arrests as "granting asylum", implying that the Soviets had extended their protection in the face of counterrevolution. His government office was taken over by Ion Gheorghe Maurer
Ion Gheorghe Maurer
Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer.-Biography:Born in Bucharest to a Saxon father and a Romanian mother of French origin, he completed studies in Law and became an attorney, defending in court members of the illegal leftist and Anti-fascist movements...
in July 1957.
A member of the PMR delegation to the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(alongside Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica
Chivu Stoica
Chivu Stoica was a leading Romanian Communist politician.Stoica was born in Smeeni, Buzău County, the sixth child of a ploughman. At age 12 he left home, and started working as an apprentice at Căile Ferate Române, the state railway corporation...
, Alexandru Moghioroş, Ştefan Voitec
Stefan Voitec
Ştefan Voitec was a Romanian socialist and communist journalist, politician, and statesman of Communist Romania.-Biography:...
, Ceauşescu, and Răutu), Preoteasa died at Vnukovo International Airport
Vnukovo International Airport
Vnukovo International Airport , is a dual runway international airport located southwest from the centre of Moscow, Russia. It is one of three major airports serving Moscow...
, minutes after their Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
aircraft missed the landing field and caught fire. According to witnesses, Preoteasa was the only person standing at the time, telling others that he was glad not to have been asked to wear a seat belt
Seat belt
A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
; when control of the airplane was lost, he remarked, probably in jest, "This was not in the schedule", which were to be his last words.
Recurring speculations that the incident had been specifically designed to kill Preoteasa, or that it was meant by the Soviets for Gheorghiu-Dej as relations between the latter and Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
had soured dramatically, are contradicted by the fact that Ceauşescu, Răutu, and other passengers all sustained serious injuries while the Soviet crew was killed. Commentators tend to agree that his death did facilitate Ceauşescu's maneuvering for power after 1964.
Legacy
Preoteasa was married to Ecaterina, and fathered a son George and daughter Ilinca, who was a high-ranking member of the Union of Communist YouthUnion of Communist Youth
The Union of Communist Youth was the Romanian Communist Party's youth organisation, modelled after the Soviet Komsomol. It aimed to cultivate young cadres into the party, as well as to help create the "new man" envisioned by communist ideologues.-History:Founded in 1922, the UTC went underground...
; previously married to Adrian Năstase
Adrian Nastase
Adrian Năstase is a Romanian politician who was the Prime Minister of Romania from December 2000 to December 2004.He competed as the Social Democratic Party candidate in the 2004 presidential election, but was defeated by centre-right Justice and Truth Alliance candidate Traian Băsescu.He was...
, who was Prime Minister of Romania in 2000-2004, she emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
His name was given to the Bucharest House for Student Culture and kept until the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
. The name endured as a common reference for the club after that date: "La Preoteasa" ("In Preoteasa") is the name of a song performed by Romanian rock band Sarmalele Reci
Sarmalele Reci
Sarmalele Reci is a Romanian rock band that was formed in 1993 in Bucharest.-History:The group was formed by Florin Dumitrescu in 1993...
on their first album Ţara te vrea prost.