Ghizela Vass (also Gisela or Gisella Vass; April 22, 1912 – 2004), a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, was an activist and politician of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

(PCR). In its 2007 report, the

Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania The Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania ( ro, Comisia Prezidenţială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România), also known as the Tismăneanu Commission (''Comisia Tismăneanu''), was a commissio ...

identified her as one of the two main agents of the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

involved in policies pertaining to

external affairs A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through mu ...

. Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, Vass went through seven years of elementary school, later attending the

Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy The Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy (Romanian: ''Academia Ștefan Gheorghiu'', in full: ''Academia de învăţămînt social-politic Ștefan Gheorghiu de pe lîngă CC al PCR'' - approx. ''Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy for Socio-Political Education in Rel ...

. A seamstress by trade, she joined the textile workers’ union in 1930 and was part of

International Red Aid International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR ( ru , МОПР, for: ''Междунаро́дная организа́ция по́мощи борца́м револю́ции'' - Mezhdunarodnaya organizatsiya pomoshchi bor ...

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

from 1931 to 1933. She joined the Romanian Communist Party, then illegal, in 1933. A Jew, she was deported to the

Transnistria Governorate The Transnistria Governorate ( ro, Guvernământul Transnistriei) was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa and occupied from 19 Aug ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Theodor Wexler, Mihaela Popov
"Viitorul poporului evreu, varianta comunistă"
''Memoria'', 2001 After the coup of August 23, 1944, she held a number of positions in the PCR (which soon after became the Romanian Workers' Party, PMR), starting as a member of the

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

county party committee bureau. In 1948 she joined the

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

party committee.''Membrii C.C. al P.C.R., 1945-1989: Dicționar'', CNSAS, Editura Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 2004, p.608. Vass served as adjunct to the chief of the Organizational Section of the Central Committee of the PMR; president of the county committee of party member verification from

Reșița Reșița (; german: link=no, Reschitz; hu, Resicabánya; hr, Ričica; cz, Rešice; sr, Решица/Rešica; tr, Reşçe) is a city in western Romania and the capital of Caraș-Severin County. It is located in the Banat region. The city had ...

, secretary of the Bucharest city party committee (from January 1953); chief of the Women's Party Work Section of the Central Committee of the PMR (1955 – 24 January 1956); inspector for the Central Committee of the PMR and coordinator of the Foreign Cadres and Foreign Relations Sections of the Central Committee of the PMR (until January 1957); chief of the Foreign Relations Section of the Central Committee of the PMR (January 1957 –November 1965); chief of the International Section of the Central Committee of the PMR (from November 1965); and adjunct to the chief of the International Relations and International Economic Cooperation Section of the Central Committee of the PCR (1975 – February 1982). She retired in February 1982. Vass was an alternate member of the Central Committee of the PMR (23 February 1948 – 27 May 1952) and a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian PMR (later PCR) (27 May 1952 – 22 November 1984). She served in the

Great National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to: * Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania * Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of R ...

from 1952 to 1957, elected for the

Focșani Focșani (; yi, פֿאָקשאַן, Fokshan) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. It has a population () of 79,315. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curv ...

district, Regiunea Bârlad. She was awarded membership in the following orders: “Steaua Republicii Populare Române”, class III (1948); class II (1964); “Ordinul Muncii”, class II (1948); class I (1962); “Apărarea Patriei”, class II (1949); “23 August”, class II (1959); and “Tudor Vladimirescu”, class II (1966). Additionally, she was given the title “Erou al Muncii Socialiste din RSR” (Hero of Socialist Labour of the Romanian Socialist Republic) in 1971. She was married to Ladislau (László) Vass (b. 1912), himself a Central Committee member, and lived for many years on Zambaccian Street, nr 1, in

. She had two daughters; one left for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1980, the other (a professor at the

Polytechnic University of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Politehnica din București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.Bogdan Olteanu Bogdan Olteanu (born 29 October 1971) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the president of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the Romanian Parliament) between 2006 and 2008. Olteanu had formerly been a member of the National L ...

,Anca Simina
"Povestea Ghizelei Vass, bunica stalinistă a lui Bogdan Olteanu"
, ''

Evenimentul Zilei ''Evenimentul Zilei'' is a formerly physical and now exclusively online newspaper in Romania. Its name means "today's even (news)". History and profile ''Evenimentul Zilei'' was founded by Ion Cristoiu, Cornel Nistorescu and Mihai Cârciog, an ...

'', March 15, 2007, accessed December 31, 2007. the former

president of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania The President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania is the deputy elected to preside over the meetings in the lower chamber of the Parliament of Romania. The President of the Chamber of Deputies is also the president of the Standing Bureau of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vass, Ghizela 1912 births 2004 deaths Politicians from Iași Survivors of World War II deportations to Transnistria Romanian communists 20th-century Romanian women politicians Romanian trade unionists Romanian Jews