Ion Gheorghe Maurer
Encyclopedia
Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer (September 23, 1902 – February 8, 2000) was a Romania
n communist
politician and lawyer.
to a Saxon
father and a Romania
n 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. Occasionally, as in the 1936 trial of Romanian Communist Party
(PCR) activists, including Ana Pauker
, Alexandru Drăghici, and Alexandru Moghioroş in Craiova
, he assisted Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
).
Before 1937, he was briefly active in the Radical Peasants' Party, formed by Grigore Iunian
as a splinter group of the National Peasants' Party
; however, he was by then already a member of the illegal Communist Party and active in the Agitprop
section.
In 1942-1943, during World War II
he was imprisoned for his political activity (notably, in the camp at Târgu Jiu
), and, as a member of a paramilitary
grouping, played a secondary part in the events of August 23, 1944 that led to the downfall of the Ion Antonescu
regime. During this time, although present among the few active leaders of the Party around general secretary
Ştefan Foriş
, he became a supporter of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
's faction (dominated by imprisoned activists). In 1944, he played a hand in Foriş' deposition, assisting Emil Bodnăraş
and Gheorghiu-Dej.
After the war, Maurer became a member of the Central Committee
of the Romanian Workers' Party (the new name of the PCR after it had incorporated the Social Democratic Party
) and took several ministerial positions in the new communist government of Romania
— including that of undersecretary of the Communications and Public Works Ministry under Gheorghiu-Dej in the first Petru Groza
government. In 1946-1947, he was a member of Romania's delegation to the Paris Peace Conference
(headed by Gheorghe Tătărescu
) and was briefly employed by Ana Pauker at the Foreign Ministry, before being dismissed for having an unsatisfactory level of political conviction. He was removed from the forefront for the following decade, working for the Institute of Juridical Research.
He supported Gheorghiu-Dej's nationalist
policy, eventually becoming foreign minister of Romania in 1957 (replacing Grigore Preoteasa
), holding office for six months, and serving in the delegations establishing closer contacts with the People's Republic of China
during the Sino-Soviet Split
and a détente
with France
in 1959.
Regarded, according to some claims, as Gheorghiu-Dej's chosen successor, he was head of state
(President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly
of Romania) from 1958 to 1961. He took the seat previously occupied by Constantin Pîrvulescu
on the Politburo
, and then replaced Chivu Stoica
as Prime Minister of Romania
in 1961. In the latter capacity, he was the recipient of a 1963 letter by the British
philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell
, who pleaded with the Romanian authorities to free from jail Belu Zilber (a victim of the conflict between the Party leadership and Pătrăşcanu, Zilber had been a political prisoner
for sixteen years by then). Ion Gheorghe Maurer was also one of three acting Chairmen of the Presidum of the Great National Assembly (heads of state
) between March 19 and March 24, 1965.
Alongside Emil Bodnăraş
, Maurer was an important member of the Politburo
in opposing the ambitions of Gheorghe Apostol
and, together with Bodnăraş, helping along the establishment of the Nicolae Ceauşescu
regime. Among others, Maurer helped silence potential opposition from inside the Party by withdrawing his support for Corneliu Mănescu
and welcoming Ceauşescu's directives, before being himself criticized and sidelined (at the same time as his collaborator Alexandru Bârlădeanu). Pensioned in 1974, he was still present in the forefront at most Party ceremonies.
A prominent member of the nomenklatura
for much of his life, he was known for his latent conflict with a large part of the PCR hierarchy. He accumulated a sizable wealth and was known for his ostentatious lifestyle. In 1989, Maurer's earlier support for Ceauşescu led the sidelined PCR members who were planning to state their opposition to the regime by drafting the so-called Letter of the Six (Apostol, Bârlădeanu, and Pîrvulescu, together with Silviu Brucan
, Grigore Răceanu
, and Corneliu Mănescu
) not to enlist his assistance in the process.
He died in Bucharest a decade after the Romanian Revolution
, leaving a son, Jean.
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...
politician and lawyer.
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....
to a Saxon
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...
father and a Romania
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 mother of French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
origin, he completed studies in Law and became an attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, defending in court members of the illegal leftist and 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...
movements. Occasionally, as in the 1936 trial of 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) activists, including Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
, Alexandru Drăghici, and Alexandru Moghioroş in 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...
, he assisted 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...
).
Before 1937, he was briefly active in the Radical Peasants' Party, formed by Grigore Iunian
Grigore Iunian
Grigore Iunian was a Romanian left-wing politician and lawyer. A member of the National Liberal Party during the 1910s, he rallied with the Peasants' Party after World War I, and followed it into the National Peasants' Party , before leaving in 1933 to create the Radical Peasants' Party-Grigore...
as a splinter group of 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...
; however, he was by then already a member of the illegal Communist Party and active in the 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....
section.
In 1942-1943, 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 was imprisoned for his political activity (notably, in the camp at 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...
), and, as a member of a paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
grouping, played a secondary part in the events of August 23, 1944 that led to the downfall 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...
regime. During this time, although present among the few active leaders of the Party around general secretary
General secretary
-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
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....
, he became a supporter of 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...
's faction (dominated by imprisoned activists). In 1944, he played a hand in Foriş' deposition, assisting Emil Bodnăraş
Emil Bodnaras
Emil Bodnăraş was an influential Romanian Communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent...
and Gheorghiu-Dej.
After the war, Maurer became 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...
of the Romanian Workers' Party (the new name of the PCR after it had incorporated the Social Democratic Party
Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct)
The Romanian Social Democratic Party was a social-democratic political party in Romania. It published the magazine România Muncitoare, and later Socialismul, Lumea Nouă, and Libertatea.-Early party:...
) and took several ministerial positions in the new communist government of 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...
— including that of undersecretary of the Communications and Public Works Ministry under Gheorghiu-Dej in the first 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....
government. In 1946-1947, he was a member of Romania's delegation to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...
(headed by Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
) and was briefly employed by Ana Pauker at the Foreign Ministry, before being dismissed for having an unsatisfactory level of political conviction. He was removed from the forefront for the following decade, working for the Institute of Juridical Research.
He supported Gheorghiu-Dej's nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
policy, eventually becoming foreign minister of Romania in 1957 (replacing Grigore Preoteasa
Grigore Preoteasa
Grigore Preoteasa was a Romanian 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.-Biography:...
), holding office for six months, and serving in the delegations establishing closer contacts with the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
during the Sino-Soviet Split
Sino-Soviet split
In political science, the term Sino–Soviet split denotes the worsening of political and ideologic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War...
and a détente
Détente
Détente is the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation. The term is often used in reference to the general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War...
with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1959.
Regarded, according to some claims, as Gheorghiu-Dej's chosen successor, he was head of state
President of Romania
The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...
(President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly
Great National Assembly
The Great National Assembly was the legislature of the Romanian People's Republic and the Socialist Republic Romania. When Communism was overthrown in Romania in December 1989, the National Assembly was replaced by a bicameral parliament, made up of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.The Great...
of Romania) from 1958 to 1961. He took the seat previously occupied by Constantin Pîrvulescu
Constantin Pîrvulescu
Constantin Pîrvulescu was a Romanian communist politician, one of the founders of the Romanian Communist Party , and, eventually, an active opponent of Communist Romania's leader Nicolae Ceauşescu...
on 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:...
, and then replaced 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...
as Prime Minister of Romania
Prime Minister of Romania
The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers , when the term "Government" included more than the Cabinet, and the Cabinet was called The Council of Ministers...
in 1961. In the latter capacity, he was the recipient of a 1963 letter by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
, who pleaded with the Romanian authorities to free from jail Belu Zilber (a victim of the conflict between the Party leadership and Pătrăşcanu, Zilber had been a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
for sixteen years by then). Ion Gheorghe Maurer was also one of three acting Chairmen of the Presidum of the Great National Assembly (heads of state
President of Romania
The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...
) between March 19 and March 24, 1965.
Alongside Emil Bodnăraş
Emil Bodnaras
Emil Bodnăraş was an influential Romanian Communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent...
, Maurer was an important 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 opposing the ambitions of Gheorghe Apostol
Gheorghe Apostol
Gheorghe Apostol was a Romanian politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party, noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceauşescu.-Early life:...
and, together with Bodnăraş, helping along the establishment of the 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...
regime. Among others, Maurer helped silence potential opposition from inside the Party by withdrawing his support for Corneliu Mănescu
Corneliu Manescu
Corneliu Mănescu was a Romanian diplomat born in Ploieşti. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1961 to 1972 and as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1967 to 1968....
and welcoming Ceauşescu's directives, before being himself criticized and sidelined (at the same time as his collaborator Alexandru Bârlădeanu). Pensioned in 1974, he was still present in the forefront at most Party ceremonies.
A prominent member of the nomenklatura
Nomenklatura
The nomenklatura were a category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity: government, industry, agriculture, education, etc., whose positions were granted only with approval by the...
for much of his life, he was known for his latent conflict with a large part of the PCR hierarchy. He accumulated a sizable wealth and was known for his ostentatious lifestyle. In 1989, Maurer's earlier support for Ceauşescu led the sidelined PCR members who were planning to state their opposition to the regime by drafting the so-called Letter of the Six (Apostol, Bârlădeanu, and Pîrvulescu, together with Silviu Brucan
Silviu Brucan
Silviu Brucan was a Romanian communist politician. Though he disagreed with Nicolae Ceauşescu's policies, he never gave up his communist beliefs and did not oppose communist ideology...
, 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...
, and Corneliu Mănescu
Corneliu Manescu
Corneliu Mănescu was a Romanian diplomat born in Ploieşti. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1961 to 1972 and as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1967 to 1968....
) not to enlist his assistance in the process.
He died in Bucharest a decade after the Romanian Revolution
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...
, leaving a son, Jean.