George Grigorovici or Gheorghe Grigorovici (4 May 1871 - 18 July 1950) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician.

Biography

Gheorghe Grigorovici was born in May 1871 old style in the town of Storojineț in

Duchy of Bukovina The Duchy of Bukovina (german: Herzogtum Bukowina; ro, Ducatul Bucovinei; uk, Герцогство Буковина) was a constituent land of the Austrian Empire from 1849 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until 1918 ...

, then an Imperial province of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(today in Ukraine). During the student years he joined the social-democratic movement; he joined the Social Democratic Party of Austria, he was noticed by conferences held in the working circles. He was delegated by the party leadership as a trustworthy man in Bukovina, in order to organize the workers in the Social Democratic Party and in trade unions. On 10 October 1903 he married Tatiana Pisterman, the theoretician of Austrian and Romanian social democracy of Jewish origin, Who has worked hard on social assistance among the needy population in

Chernivtsi Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...

. He became editor of Volkspresse, the German-language newspaper of the Bucoveni Social Democrats, will then establish ''Lupta'', thee first social-democratic Romanian-language newspaper from Bukovina. Grigorovici Georg

In 1907, in Austria's first elections based on universal and equal votes, candidate Gheorghe Grigorovici became the first Romanian Social-Democrat deputy in the Vienna Parliament. Used Parliament's stand to harshly criticize the Austro-Hungarian state administration and to reveal the misery of workers and peasants in Bukovina. He was the first to use Romanian in the Austrian Parliament. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Grigorovici became one of the main supporters of the Unification of Bukovina and Romania. In his last speech in the Vienna Parliament on 22 October 1918, George Grigorovici was warning against attempts to prevent the Romanian-inhabited provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from joining Romania: "No Romanian will ever give up the tendency to unite the Romanian people. The Union of Romanians is an ideal and a goal that Romanians have. The Union of Romanians is an ideal and a goal that Romanians will always follow, at any time, in all circumstances." After the Great Union in 1918, it had become necessary to unify the socialist and social-democratic movements in Transylvania, Banat, Bukovina, Bessarabia and the Old Kingdom. The lack of ideological unity has led to conflicts: "the Social Democrat George Grigorovici, autodeclared enemy of Russian and Hungarian Bolshevism" (as described in a Comintern call of 27 March 1920) and other representatives of the Social Democracy refused to accept unification in a "Bolshevik" party affiliated to the 3rd International, idea supported by the communists. A few days later, Gheorghe Grigorovici emphasized before the Bucovina Social Democrats, in contrast to the "Bolshevitism" of unconscious people, that "democracy is the only road to socialism". In 1927, the left-wing parties that rejected unification with the communists joined, forming the Romanian Social-Democratic Party. In 1920s, Grigorovici was also a Member of the Romanian Parliament. During the Royal dictatorship, Grigorovici supported the collaboration with the

National Renaissance Front The National Renaissance Front ( ro, Frontul Renașterii Naționale, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romani ...

, as he was under state secretary at the Labor Ministry. Grigorovici was expelled from the Social Democratic Party, which was reorganized around

Constantin Titel Petrescu Constantin Titel Petrescu (5 February 1888 – 2 September 1957) was a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party. He was born in Craiova, the son of an employee of the National Bank in Buchare ...

. Grigorovici became a critic of the communist power officially established in 1948, claiming that "politics is not being made under foreign occupation". Labeled as "a traitor of the working class", George Grigorovici was arrested on 13 June 1949 and detained without trial; he deceased on 18 July 1950 in Vacaresti prison. The physicist Radu Grigorovici was his son. Nowadays, several streets in Romania are named after Gheorghe Grigorovici.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigorovici, George 1871 births 1950 deaths People from Chernivtsi Oblast People from the Duchy of Bukovina Eastern Orthodox Christians from Romania Ethnic Romanian politicians in Bukovina Romanian Social Democratic Party (1927–1948) politicians Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1907–1911) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1911–1918) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Romanian anti-communists Leaders of political parties in Romania Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Romanian people who died in prison custody Romanian democracy activists