Nicolae Ceausescu biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania's iron-fisted Communist leader, was born on January 26, 1918 in the small, rural town of Scornicesti, just outside of Bucharest. The third of ten children, Ceausescu grew up poor, receiving only an elementary school education. By age 11, he was employed in one of the many factories that dotted the Bucharest landscape. No doubt shaped by these early struggles and the appeal of Communism's promise for a better future, Ceausescu joined Romania's worker movement in 1932.

By the mid-1930s, Ceausescu was a rising leader in the Union of Communist Youth. After joining the underground Communist Party, he was arrested and sentenced to 30 months in prison. He served his time at Doftana Prison in Brasov, a harsh facility where authorities were known for their brutal handling of the inmates. Ceausescu did not escape their wrath, and the physical abuse he endured there left him with a permanent stutter.

While in prison, Ceausescu met Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, an influential revolutionary leader who quickly grew fond of his younger prison-mate. Gheorghiu-Dej took Ceausescu under his wing, introduced him to other party elders and instructed him in Marxist-Lenin theories.

Rise to Power

In 1944, with the Axis powers starting to lose ground, followed by the Soviet invasion of Romania, Ceausescu escaped from prison. Within a year, as Romania fell under Communist rule, the young leader began his climb to power.

By 1945, Ceausescu was made brigadier general in the Romanian Army. Over the next two decades, with his old friend, Gheorghiu-Dej—having claimed power as the country's top ruler—Ceausescu took on an increasingly prominent role in the country's government and Communist party. In 1955, he was made a full-time member of the Politburo, and was soon managing the party's organization structure and cadres. Just before Gheorghiu-Dej died of cancer in 1965, he tapped Ceausescu as his successor.

President Ceausescu

As Romania's supreme ruler, Ceausescu sought closer ties to the West. He welcomed newly elected President Richard Nixon in 1969 and traveled extensively. He also fostered more agricultural and industrial development, and tried to foster a better relationship with China.

But his grand endeavors to help his country's domestic situation, hurt more than helped Romania's people. Brought on by Ceausescu's ambitious building projects of the 1970s, the country faced severe debt levels in the 1980s. Ceausescu managed to cut the deficit in half, but in doing so, plunged his country's standard of living to levels that put the country near the bottom of Europe.