Ştefan Andrei is a former 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 communist politician who, among others, served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania (1978-1985). He was arrested after the 1989 overthrow

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...

 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.

Early life

Andrei was born to a very poor family in Oltenia

Oltenia

Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....

, where the Romanian communist leader 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...

 was from too. While a child he was a shepherd

Shepherd

A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...

 but willing to continue his education, he eventually made his way to leadership of the Central Committee of 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...

. His doctoral thesis at the university covered the subject of international communist movements and was later used as reference in the central committee. In one of his articles on socialism he had published a few days before official visit of General Secretary of the CP of China

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China , officially General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest ranking official within the Communist Party of China, a standing member of the Politburo and head of the Secretariat...

, Hu Yaobang

Hu Yaobang

Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...

, he said:
Andrei was often considered a very literate and benevolent man, a famous book collector enriching his collection from his trips abroad. He was also seen as a good husband and family man. He is married to Romanian movie actress

Cinema of Romania

The cinema of Romania is the art of motion-picture making within the nation of Romania or by Romanian filmmakers abroad.As upon much of the world's early cinema, the ravages of time have left their mark upon Romanian film prints. Tens of titles have been destroyed or lost for good...

 Violeta Andrei

Violeta Andrei

Violeta Andrei is a Romanian actress and the wife of former Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Ştefan Andrei.Andrei was born on March 29, 1941 in Braşov, Romania. She is a graduate of Caragiale University of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in Bucharest. Her debut was the role in the movie...

.

Political career

Andrei was first appointed Deputy Chief of International Section of the Central Committee encouraged to develop ties with foreign communist governments and movements around the world and in April 1972, he became the Secretary for Foreign Relations of the Central Committee and in November 1974, he rose to membership of Permanent Bureau of the Political Executive Committee of Romania. On March 8, 1978 he was eventually appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As a Minister, Andrei has tried to decrease dependence of Romania on 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....

 by directing its foreign policy towards developing ASEAN countries of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Malaysia, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 while also enhancing trade, economic and educational exchange with African countries of Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

, Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

, Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

, Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

, Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

, Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

, Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

 and Zaire

Zaire

The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...

 which also diversified Romania's energy imports. During his years in service to Ceauşescu regime, he was also a personal advisor to younger son of Nicolae Ceauşescu, Nicu Ceauşescu

Nicu Ceausescu

Nicu Ceaușescu was the youngest child of Romanian leader Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. He was a close associate of his father's political regime and considered the President's heir apparent.-Life during Communism:...

. His term as the Minister of Foreign Affairs ended on November 11, 1985 when he was reportedly sacked by the First Lady Elena Ceauşescu

Elena Ceausescu

Elena Ceaușescu was the wife of Romania's Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, and Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.-Background:She was born Elena Petrescu into a peasant family in Petrești commune, Dâmboviţa County, in the informal region of Wallachia. Her family was supported by her father's job...

 who then appointed her protégé, Ilie Văduva

Ilie Văduva

Ilie Văduva was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1985 until 1986, Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation from August 26, 1986 until May 1988 and Presidential Counselor from December 1988 until December 1989...

to take over. Stefan Andrei was subsequently appointed the Secretary of the Central Committee in charge of economic matters.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he was arrested and sentenced by a Romanian Military Court to two years and ten months in prison for supporting the bloody crackdown in 1989. He served at least part of his sentence at the Jilava prison hospital.