Simion Bughici
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania
In office
July 10, 1952 – October 3, 1955
PresidentGheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Preceded byAna Pauker
Succeeded byGrigore Preoteasa
Personal details
Born(1914-12-14)December 14, 1914
Iași, Kingdom of Romania
DiedFebruary 1, 1997(1997-02-01) (aged 82)
Bucharest, Romania

Simion Bughici (b. Simon David,[1] December 14, 1914 – February 1, 1997) was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania.[2]

Life and career

Bughici was born in Iași to a Jewish family of klezmer musicians; his father and two brothers perished during the June 1941 Iași pogrom. He joined the banned Communist Party of Romania in 1933. He worked as a weaver at the Adriana factory in Iași, and was active in communist organizations in the Bistrița, Trotuș, and Prahova Valley regions. In 1935 he was arrested and sentenced to 5 years of prison by the Brașov tribunal; held at Doftana Prison, he was released in 1940. Soon after he was re-arrested and sent to the Caracal and Târgu Jiu internment camps.[3] During World War II, Bughici was imprisoned at Vapniarka concentration camp in Transnistria.[3][4] In March 1944 he escaped during the transfer from the Grosulovo camp to Târgu Jiu.[3]

After the installation of Communist rule, Bughici served as an Ambassador of Romania to Soviet Union in 1949–1952. In July 1952, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, replacing Ana Pauker, who was sacked by the communist leadership aided by Joseph Stalin.[5][6] The appointment of Bughici disassociated Pauker's downfall from the anti-Semitism widely seen in Eastern Europe at the time.[7] Bughici served as minister until October 1955. During his political career, he also served as the Vice Prime Minister of Romania.[8] Other offices that he held were that of head of Centrocoop, Minister of the Food Industry and vice president of the Communist Party Control Commission (Colegiul Central de Partid) (1969–1974).[9][10] He served as a deputy in the Great National Assembly for several constituencies from 1948 to 1975.[3]

In 1971, Bughici was awarded the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic, First class.[3] He was married to Ana Friedman, a history teacher and school principal.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Comitetul Central al P.C.R. Colegiul Central de Partid - litera A, Prefață" (PDF) (in Romanian). arhivelenationale.ro. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  2. ^ "Leaders of Romania". Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e Dobre, Florica, ed. (2004), Membrii C.C. al P.C.R. 1945–1989. Dicționar (PDF) (in Romanian), Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedică, pp. 116–117, ISBN 973450486X
  4. ^ Tismăneanu, Vladimir (2003). Stalinism for all seasons: a political history of Romanian communism. United States: The Regents of the University of California. p. 131. ISBN 0-520-23747-1. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  5. ^ From the research departments of Radio Free Europe: East Europe. Situation report. Rumania, Volume 4. 1967. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  6. ^ Deletant, Dennis (1995). Ceaușescu and the Securitate: coercion and dissent in Romania, 1965–1989. United States: M. E. Sharpe. p. 47. ISBN 1-56324-633-3. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  7. ^ Levy, Robert (2001). Ana Pauker: the rise and fall of a Jewish Communist. United States: The Regents of the University of California. p. 301. ISBN 1-56324-633-3. Retrieved 2010-08-20. Simion Bughici.
  8. ^ "Foreign Affairs Commission". Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  9. ^ "Cine a fost Nicu Ceaușescu? Ispita comunismului dinastic (II)". www.contributors.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  10. ^ "Decretul nr. 157/1971 privind conferirea unor ordine ale Republicii Socialiste România" (in Romanian). Lege5.ro. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
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