Ilie Pintilie (1903,

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 ...

– 10 November 1940, Doftana) was 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 ...

railroad worker and activist 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). Pintilie joined the labour movement as an apprentice at the CFR workrooms in Nicolina-

, and became a member of the then-outlawed PCR in 1926. In February 1933, as the Griviţa Strike unfolded in

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 ...

, he took part in organising railway strikes elsewhere (particularly in Iași and

Pașcani Pașcani () is a city in Iași County in the Western Moldavia region of Romania, on the Siret river. , it has a population of 33,745. Five villages are administered by the city: Blăgești, Boșteni, Gâstești, Lunca, and Sodomeni. The city der ...

) as a member of the national action committee. Between 1934 and 1937 he undertook important tasks in the leadership of CFR unions and was an active member of the anti-war movement, writing numerous articles in left-wing newspapers and magazines. In 1936 he became a member of the Central Committee of the PCR. Arrested, tried and sent to prison several times for his activities, he was detained at Galata (Iași),

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central and Eastern E ...

and

Jilava Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava. The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as '' ...

before being sent to

Doftana prison Doftana was a Romanian prison, sometimes referred to as "the Romanian Bastille". Built in 1895 in connection with the nearby salt mines, from 1921 it began to be used to detain political prisoners, among them Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who was the Pr ...

. There, as an ethnic Romanian and a worker, he was the only rival for leadership of

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ( ...

, who had made a name for himself in the Grivița Strike.

Vladimir Tismăneanu Vladimir Tismăneanu (; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is di ...

, ''Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, Berkeley, 2003, p.123. Pintilie was killed when Doftana prison collapsed during the

1940 Vrancea earthquake The 1940 Vrancea earthquake, also known as the 1940 Bucharest earthquake, ( ro, Cutremurul din 1940) occurred on Sunday, 10 November 1940, in Romania, at 03:39 (local time), when the majority of the population was at home. The 1940 earthquake r ...

. Later, he was buried in the crypt in the

Carol Park Carol I Park ( ro, Parcul Carol) is a public park in Bucharest, Romania, named after King Carol I of Romania. A French garden located in the southern-central area of Bucharest, partly on Filaret hill, originally capable of hosting various exhibit ...

Mausoleum; his remains were interred elsewhere when the Mausoleum was shut down in 1991. During the Communist period, a large number of streets bore his name, including Bucharest's Ilie Pintilie Boulevard, formerly Bonaparte Highway and called Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard since the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

Notes

References

* Romanian Academy (1962–66). ''Dicţionar enciclopedic român'', volume 3. Academia Republicii Populare Române, p. 755. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pintilie, Ilie 1903 births 1940 deaths Romanian communists Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Natural disaster deaths in Romania Deaths in earthquakes Romanian people who died in prison custody Politicians from Iași Inmates of Doftana prison