Gheorghe Cristescu

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Gheorghe Cristescu

Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882 in

four-in-hand necktie
"), after the most notable of his accessories.

Biography

Early activism

Born in

Romanian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (up to 1899, when the Party disbanded).[2] In 1900, he joined the leadership of the only surviving group of the Party, its Bucharest socialist circle, România Muncitoare (led by Christian Rakovsky).[3]

Up until the creation of a

Premier Ion I. C. Brătianu on December 9, 1909, Cristescu, alongside other România Muncitoare activists (including I. C. Frimu and Dimitrie Marinescu), was arrested and interrogated on suspicion of having inspired the action.[3] From 1910 to 1916, he was one of the PSDR's leaders;[4] in 1908-1920, he was active in the trade union movement
.

In 1916, the Party was banned for its activities in support of the

Romanian Campaign), he remained active in enemy-occupied Bucharest, and kept contacts with Social Democratic Party of Germany with the help of German soldiers who sympathized with the latter.[5] In 1918, when Romanian authorities resumed control, Cristescu and many other leaders of the PSDR (Ecaterina Arbore, Constantin Popovici, Ilie Moscovici, and Constantin Titel Petrescu among them) were arrested on charges of collaboration.[5]

The PSDR re-emerged in November 1918, as the

far left wing, where, as Argetoianu formulated it, "the blanket-maker Cristescu and others were agitating".[7]

In the early elections of 1920, Cristescu, together with Alexandru Dobrogeanu-Gherea and Boris Stefanov, was not validated into Parliament, despite having carried the popular vote.[8] He was eventually confirmed for office.[9]

Communism

Although he had originally voted against

Ploiești).[12]

Cristescu led the faction that separated itself after the Party's Congress of 8–12 May 1921, and was elected as the first

Interior Minister in the second Alexandru Averescu cabinet and main instigator of the arrest, later admitted that his order lacked legal grounds, and stated that he had given Cristescu approval to hold congress with the knowledge that Comintern policies were to be submitted to a vote, thus causing the faction to incriminate itself.[17]

Most of the accused were acquitted, an important reason for this being Cristescu's convincing testimony (alongside a

Siguranța Statului secret police.[18]

Dissidence

Cristescu started questioning his Party's policies after the decision taken by the

Balkan Communist Federation during its 1923 Vienna Conference. The Federation had adopted the official Soviet policy recommending that Bessarabia, Bukovina, Transylvania and Southern Dobruja (or all of Dobruja) be given the right to secede from Romania. Due to the ethnic composition of these regions, he could not accept that minorities be given self-determination (especially since this implied not autonomy or independence, but rather satisfaction of territorial demands that other nations had on Romania).[19] Cristescu allegedly called for the party to revise its program in respect to these points, and thus resume legal activities.[9]

Notably clashing with his nominal subordinate

umbrella group for the outlawed Communist faction) was a major factor in his conflict with other activists.[22]

1930s, persecution, and rehabilitation

Nicolae Ceauşescu
in 1971, at the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Romanian Communist Party.

After creating his own minor group, the Socialist Party of Workers (later known as Independent Socialist Party), in 1928, Cristescu joined the minor Unitary Socialist Party in 1932 (a

Ștefan Voitec, and Constantin Popovici, it eventually dissolved itself under pressure from the Communist Party in 1944).[23][verification needed] He retired from politics in 1936.[9]

His daughter Tita Cristescu, a former Miss Romania who had become the mistress of Liviu Ciulei (a famous lawyer and father of the director Liviu Ciulei), died in mysterious circumstances in 1936.[24] Ciulei, arrested on charges that he had poisoned her, was acquitted later in the same year.[25] A theory in circulation indicates Maria Suciu, Tita's maid, as the killer.[25]

During the first years of

Nicolae Ceaușescu's rehabilitation policies,[28] his uncomfortable opinions were censored and he was subject to Securitate surveillance until his death.[29] Although occasionally hailed up as an anti-Comintern communist during a time when the Ceaușescu regime developed a nationalist discourse, Cristescu avoided being associated with the party he had helped to found.[9]

References

  1. ^ Constantin Argetoianu, in Tandin; Cioroianu, p.24, 40; Constantiniu
  2. ^ 110 ani de social-democraţie, p.12; Cioroianu, p.40-41
  3. ^ a b Ornea, p.522
  4. ^ 110 ani de social-democraţie, p.14
  5. ^ a b c 110 ani de social-democraţie, p.15
  6. ^ Constantinescu, p.40-41
  7. ^ Argetoianu, "Memorii" (Magazin Istoric), p.75
  8. ^ Ţiu
  9. ^ a b c d Constantiniu
  10. ^ Constantiniu; Diac, "La «kilometrul 0»...", "Delegaţii socialişti..."
  11. ^ Cioroianu, p.24
  12. ^ a b Diac, "Delegaţii socialişti..."
  13. ^ Cristescu, in Dosarele Istoriei; Diac, "Delegaţii socialişti..."; Tismăneanu, p.45-47
  14. ^ Cristescu, in Dosarele Istoriei; Dobrogeanu-Gherea, in Frunză, p.22-23
  15. ^ Cioroianu, p.29; Constantiniu; Tănase; Tismăneanu, p.49-50
  16. ^ a b Cioroianu, p.29; Tănase
  17. ^ Argetoianu, in Diac, "La «kilometrul 0»..."
  18. ^ Tănase
  19. ^ Frunză, p.37-38
  20. ^ Cioroianu, p.34; Tismăneanu, p.56-57
  21. ^ Constantiniu; Frunză, p.50; Tismăneanu, p.56-57
  22. ^ Tismăneanu, p.67
  23. ^ Cioroianu, p.25; Constantiniu; Frunză, p.147, 203-204, 214; Tismăneanu, p.59
  24. ^ Cioroianu, p.25; Tandin
  25. ^ a b Tandin
  26. ^ 110 ani de social-democraţie, p.25; Constantiniu; Frunză, p.391-392
  27. ^ Cioroianu, p.25
  28. ^ Constantiniu; Cioroianu, p.25; Frunză, p.488
  29. ^ Cioroianu, p.25; Frunză, p.488

Notes

Party political offices
Preceded by
none
 General secretary
of the Romanian Communist Party
1921–1924 		Succeeded by
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