Gheorghe Apostol
Encyclopedia
Gheorghe Apostol was a Romania
n politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party
, noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceauşescu
.
, Galaţi County
.
After training at the Căile Ferate Române
(CFR) school, he worked in a CFR foundry
in Galaţi
. In 1932, Apostol met Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
, and became involved in the communist
underground. He joined the Party in 1934 and became its link with the railway trade union
s and minor left-leaning groups in Galaţi.
Arrested several times, Apostol was sentenced in 1937 to three years in prison, which he served in Galaţi and Doftana
. His activities upon his release from jail got him interned in camps for political prisoners, at Târgu Jiu
, Caracal
, and Miercurea Ciuc. In August 1944, as the Red Army
was approaching the Romanian border, Apostol and several communist figures who were being detained at Târgu Jiu escaped and made their way to the underground. This version of the story follows Apostol's official biography of the 1950s; photos taken upon the liberation of the camp (published in Dosarele Istoriei, for instance), allegedly showing him in the middle of the crowd of former prisoners, made some doubt this account.
prior to 1944, Gheorghe Apostol and Gheorghiu-Dej walked the fine line between Stalinism
and reformism. Thus, Communist Romania
did not steer away from Soviet policies until 1953, and Gheorghiu-Dej even got Joseph Stalin
's approval for the removal of rival Ana Pauker
(still regarded as a leftwing extremist by Apostol—see the interview linked below), as well as for the elimination of Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
(a Romanian communist who was not completely loyal to the Soviets). After Stalin's death in 1953, the regime in Romania, headed by the same inner circle, was largely opposed to Nikita Khrushchev
and de-Stalinization, while carrying out its own reforms and attempting to cut off most economic ties to the Soviet Union.
Apostol continued to be the favoured link between the Party (then named Partidul Muncitoresc Român, PMR – "Romanian Workers' Party") and the trade unions. At the same time, he climbed steadily in the Party hierarchy: a Central Committee
member in 1945, a Politburo
member in 1948, and a First Secretary in 1954–55. He was Minister of Agriculture in 1953–54, a member of the Great National Assembly
legislative body, whose President he also was from April 1948 to June 1948, September 1950 to April 1951 and March 1952 to June 1952, and recipient of several national honours.
According to Apostol himself, an ailing Gheorghiu-Dej would have decided to appoint him as his successor in 1964: as confirmation, Apostol was sent to represent the Romanian government at Jawaharlal Nehru
's funeral. Ion Gheorghe Maurer
would have rallied the Party leadership around the neutral option represented by Ceauşescu, making sure that Apostol did not represent a threat upon Gheorghiu-Dej's death.
). He refused to pay the allegiance demanded by the new leader. Protected by Emil Bodnăraş
, he was advised to take refuge in a diplomatic career, becoming ambassador
to Argentina
and then Brazil
.
In 1988, at the peak of Nicolae Ceauşescu's leadership, Apostol returned to Romania and contacted other communist figures of his generation (such as Alexandru Bârlădeanu, Silviu Brucan
, Corneliu Mănescu
, Constantin Pîrvulescu
, and Grigore Răceanu
) drafting an open letter
of protest (dubbed Scrisoarea celor şase – "Letter of the Six
"), directed at the government and made public (March 11, 1989) through the means of both Radio Free Europe
and Voice of America
. According to Apostol, several Letter contributors expressed their concern at having to use Imperialist
means of propaganda
.
As a result, Apostol was placed under house arrest
, being constantly interrogated – in the hope that he would reveal himself as a "Soviet spy". The Romanian Revolution
, which the Letter had helped along, liberated him in December.
Apostol expressed his dislike for many aspects of post-revolutionary Romania. Apostol died on August 21, 2010.
, March 13, 2007, accessed December 12, 2007 Lavinia Betea, Ilegalistul disident Gheorghe Apostol, Jurnalul Naţional
, February 11, 2009, accessed August 23, 2010 Vlad Stoicescu, A murit Gheorghe Apostol, ultimul mohican al epocii Dej, Evenimentul Zilei
, August 22, 2010, accessed August 23, 2010 Lavinia Betea, A decedat Gheorghe Apostol, fostul concurent al lui Ceauşescu la cârma României, Jurnalul Naţional
, August 23, 2010, accessed August 23, 2010 Confesiunea lui Gheorghe Apostol, ultimul mohican al dinastiei comuniste, Jurnalul Naţional
, accessed August 23, 2010
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 politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the 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...
, noted for his rivalry with 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...
.
Early life
Apostol was born near Tudor VladimirescuTudor Vladimirescu, Galati
Tudor Vladimirescu is a commune in Galaţi County, Romania with a population of 4,612 people. It is composed of a single village, Tudor Vladimirescu....
, Galaţi County
Galati County
Galaţi is a county of Romania, in Moldavia region, with the capital city at Galaţi.-History:Historically Galaţi is part of Moldavia...
.
After training at the Căile Ferate Române
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) school, he worked in a CFR foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
in Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
. In 1932, Apostol met 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...
, and became involved in the 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...
underground. He joined the Party in 1934 and became its link with the railway trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and minor left-leaning groups in Galaţi.
Arrested several times, Apostol was sentenced in 1937 to three years in prison, which he served in Galaţi and 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...
. His activities upon his release from jail got him interned in camps for political prisoners, 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...
, 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...
, and Miercurea Ciuc. In August 1944, as the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
was approaching the Romanian border, Apostol and several communist figures who were being detained at Târgu Jiu escaped and made their way to the underground. This version of the story follows Apostol's official biography of the 1950s; photos taken upon the liberation of the camp (published in Dosarele Istoriei, for instance), allegedly showing him in the middle of the crowd of former prisoners, made some doubt this account.
With Gheorghiu-Dej
He was among the most prominent collaborators of Gheorghiu-Dej. As members of the so-called prison faction, opposed to the large group of Party members who had taken refuge in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
prior to 1944, Gheorghe Apostol and Gheorghiu-Dej walked the fine line between Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
and reformism. Thus, 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...
did not steer away from Soviet policies until 1953, and Gheorghiu-Dej even got Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's approval for the removal of rival 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...
(still regarded as a leftwing extremist by Apostol—see the interview linked below), as well as for the elimination of 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...
(a Romanian communist who was not completely loyal to the Soviets). After Stalin's death in 1953, the regime in Romania, headed by the same inner circle, was largely opposed to 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...
and de-Stalinization, while carrying out its own reforms and attempting to cut off most economic ties to the Soviet Union.
Apostol continued to be the favoured link between the Party (then named Partidul Muncitoresc Român, PMR – "Romanian Workers' Party") and the trade unions. At the same time, he climbed steadily in the Party hierarchy: a 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...
member in 1945, a Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
member in 1948, and a First Secretary in 1954–55. He was Minister of Agriculture in 1953–54, a member 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...
legislative body, whose President he also was from April 1948 to June 1948, September 1950 to April 1951 and March 1952 to June 1952, and recipient of several national honours.
According to Apostol himself, an ailing Gheorghiu-Dej would have decided to appoint him as his successor in 1964: as confirmation, Apostol was sent to represent the Romanian government at Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
's funeral. 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...
would have rallied the Party leadership around the neutral option represented by Ceauşescu, making sure that Apostol did not represent a threat upon Gheorghiu-Dej's death.
Apostol vs. Ceauşescu
As a result, Apostol became deeply hostile to Ceauşescu's policies, stating that they went against the legacy of Gheorghiu-Dej (in 2003, he described the latter as democratic socialismDemocratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
). He refused to pay the allegiance demanded by the new leader. Protected by Emil Bodnăraş
Emil Bodnaras
Emil Bodnăraş was an influential Romanian Communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent...
, he was advised to take refuge in a diplomatic career, becoming ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and then Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
In 1988, at the peak of Nicolae Ceauşescu's leadership, Apostol returned to Romania and contacted other communist figures of his generation (such as Alexandru Bârlădeanu, 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...
, 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....
, 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...
, 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...
) drafting an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
of protest (dubbed Scrisoarea celor şase – "Letter of the Six
Letter of the Six
In March 1989, Silviu Brucan, together with five other Communist dignitaries , signed the open letter known as Scrisoarea celor şase - "The Letter of the Six"....
"), directed at the government and made public (March 11, 1989) through the means of both Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
and Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
. According to Apostol, several Letter contributors expressed their concern at having to use Imperialist
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
means of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
.
As a result, Apostol was placed under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
, being constantly interrogated – in the hope that he would reveal himself as a "Soviet spy". 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...
, which the Letter had helped along, liberated him in December.
Apostol expressed his dislike for many aspects of post-revolutionary Romania. Apostol died on August 21, 2010.
Family
Apostol was married to Melita Scherf (d. 1991), a Romanian journalist, in 1944, but separated in 1956 and subsequently divorced. He lived with his wife Adriana Codreanu (m. 1965) until his death in 2010. He had three children – Geta (b. 1935), Gheorghe (b. 1945), and Sanda (b. 1952) – and four grandchildren.External links
Călin Cosmaciuc, Blestemul glonţului "roşu", Evenimentul ZileiEvenimentul Zilei
Evenimentul Zilei is one of the leading newspapers in Romania. Based in Bucharest, the Romanian-language daily has a paid daily circulation of 110,000...
, March 13, 2007, accessed December 12, 2007 Lavinia Betea, Ilegalistul disident Gheorghe Apostol, Jurnalul Naţional
Jurnalul National
Jurnalul Naţional is a Romanian newspaper, part of the Intact media group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular TV station Antena 1....
, February 11, 2009, accessed August 23, 2010 Vlad Stoicescu, A murit Gheorghe Apostol, ultimul mohican al epocii Dej, Evenimentul Zilei
Evenimentul Zilei
Evenimentul Zilei is one of the leading newspapers in Romania. Based in Bucharest, the Romanian-language daily has a paid daily circulation of 110,000...
, August 22, 2010, accessed August 23, 2010 Lavinia Betea, A decedat Gheorghe Apostol, fostul concurent al lui Ceauşescu la cârma României, Jurnalul Naţional
Jurnalul National
Jurnalul Naţional is a Romanian newspaper, part of the Intact media group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular TV station Antena 1....
, August 23, 2010, accessed August 23, 2010 Confesiunea lui Gheorghe Apostol, ultimul mohican al dinastiei comuniste, Jurnalul Naţional
Jurnalul National
Jurnalul Naţional is a Romanian newspaper, part of the Intact media group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular TV station Antena 1....
, accessed August 23, 2010