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Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1948 | |
| General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party[a] | |
| In office 30 September 1955 – 19 March 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Gheorghe Apostol |
| Succeeded by | Nicolae Ceaușescu |
| In office 2 October 1944 – 19 April 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Ștefan Foriș |
| Succeeded by | Gheorghe Apostol |
| President of the State Council | |
| In office 21 March 1961 – 19 March 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Ion Gheorghe Maurer (as President of the Presidium of Great National Assembly) |
| Succeeded by | Chivu Stoica |
| President of the Council of Ministers | |
| In office 2 June 1952 – 2 October 1955 | |
| Preceded by | Petru Groza |
| Succeeded by | Chivu Stoica |
| First Vice President of the Council of Ministers | |
| In office 15 April 1948 – 2 June 1952 | |
| Prime Minister | Petru Groza |
| Preceded by | Gheorghe Tătărescu |
| Minister of Industry and Commerce | |
| In office 1 December 1946 – 14 April 1948 | |
| Prime Minister | Petru Groza |
| Preceded by | Petre Bejan |
| Minister of Public Works | |
| In office 6 March 1945 – 30 November 1946 | |
| Prime Minister | Petru Groza |
| Preceded by | Virgil Solomon |
| Succeeded by | Ion Gh. Vântu |
| Minister of Communications | |
| In office 4 November 1944 – 30 November 1946 | |
| Prime Minister | Constantin Sănătescu Nicolae Rădescu Petru Groza |
| Succeeded by | Nicolae Profiri |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 November 1901 Bârlad, Vaslui County, Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | 19 March 1965 (aged 63) Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic |
| Cause of death | Lung cancer |
| Resting place | Carol Park, Bucharest, Romania (until 1991) Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, Romania (after 1991) |
| Political party | Communist Party of Romania (1930–1965) |
| Spouse | Maria Alexe |
| Signature |  |
| a. ^ First Secretary of the Romanian Worker's Party (from February 1948) | |
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ɡe̯orˈɡi.u ˈdeʒ] ; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party (ultimately "Romanian Workers' Party", PMR) from 1944 to 1954 and from 1955 to 1965, and as the first Communist Prime Minister of Romania from 1952 to 1955.
Born in Bârlad (1901), Gheorghiu-Dej was involved in the communist movement's activities from the early 1930s. Upon the outbreak of World War II in Europe, he was imprisoned by Ion Antonescu's regime in the Târgu Jiu internment camp, and escaped only in August 1944. After the forces of King Michael ousted Antonescu and had him arrested for war crimes, Gheorghiu-Dej together with prime-minister Petru Groza pressured the King into abdicating in December 1947, marking the onset of out-and-out Communist rule in Romania.
Under his rule, Romania was considered one of the Soviet Union's most loyal satellite states, though Gheorghiu-Dej was partially unnerved by the rapid de-Stalinization policy initiated by Nikita Khrushchev at the end of the 1950s. Gheorghiu-Dej stepped up measures that greatly increased trade relations between Romania and the Western countries. At the same time his government committed human rights violations within the country.
He died of lung cancer in March 1965. His once protégé Nicolae Ceaușescu succeeded him as General Secretary.