Nicu Ceaușescu (; 1 September 1951 – 26 September 1996) was a Romanian

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and communist politician who was the youngest child of

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

n leaders Nicolae and

Elena Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu (; ; 7 January 1916 – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania. She was also ...

. He was a close associate of his father's political regime and considered the President's

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

Life during communism

According to

Ion Mihai Pacepa Ion Mihai Pacepa (; 28 October 1928 – 14 February 2021) was a Romanian two-star general in the Securitate, the secret police of the Socialist Republic of Romania, who defected to the United States in July 1978 following President Jimmy Carter' ...

, Ceaușescu wanted Nicu to become his Foreign Minister and for that, he instructed two high-ranked Party members,

Ștefan Andrei Ștefan Andrei (; 29 March 1931 – 31 August 2014) was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1978 to 1985. He was arrested after the 1989 overthrow of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime. ...

and Cornel Pacoste (whom he considered brilliant communist intellectuals) to take care of Nicu's education; Pacepa further claimed that, unlike his older siblings, he disliked school and was allegedly derided by them for never being seen reading a book.

(1990) ''Red Horizons: The True Story of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescus' Crimes, Lifestyle, and Corruption'', Regnery Publishing, Inc. pp. 62–63. . He graduated from Liceul no. 24 (now named Jean Monnet High School) and then studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

. He was involved in Uniunea Tineretului Comunist while a student, becoming its First Secretary and then Minister of Youth Issues, being elected to the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party in 1982.

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 ...

(2005) ''Stalinism pentru eternitate'',

Polirom Polirom or Editura Polirom ("Polirom" Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition of publishing classics of international literature and also various titles in the fields of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology and a ...

, Iaşi. p. 295. . Nicu Ceaușescu 1981

As an apprentice in politics, he was mentored by

, Ion Traian Ștefănescu and Cornel Pacoste. Toward the end of the 1980s, he was made a member of the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party and in 1987 the leader for

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben m ...

, being prepared by his parents to be his father's successor.

Post-communist life and legacy

Since high school, Nicu was reputed to be a heavy drinker.

, who defected to 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 territori ...

in 1978, alleged that Nicu scandalized Bucharest with his rapes and car accidents. He claimed that his father heard about Nicu's drinking problem, but his solution was the one given to every problem in Romania: work harder. He also allegedly lost large sums of money gambling around the world."Nicu Ceaușescu, 45, Flamboyant Son of Romanian Dictator", in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 27 September 1996; p. B8 former body double of

Uday Hussein Uday Saddam Hussein ( ar, عدي صدام حسين; 18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician and the eldest son of Saddam Hussein. He held numerous positions as a sports chairman, military officer and businessman, and was the head ...

, son of Iraqi President claimed that Nicu was good friends with Uday, and the two would visit each other in Switzerland and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. The documentary ''Videograms of a Revolution'' shows him exhibited as a prisoner on state television on 22 December 1989 after being arrested on accusations of holding children as hostages and other crimes. He was also arrested in 1990 for misuse of government funds under his father's

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Released in November 1992 because of

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue rep ...

, he died of the disease four years later, aged 45, in a

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceausescu, Nicu Romanian communists Children of national leaders Nicu Ceausescu People of the Romanian Revolution University of Bucharest alumni 1951 births 1996 deaths Deaths from cirrhosis Romanian politicians convicted of crimes Romanian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Romania Politicians from Bucharest Burials at Ghencea Cemetery