Petru Dugulescu (; November 18, 1945 – January 3, 2008) 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 ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

pastor, poet, and politician. A member of the

Baptist Union of Romania The Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania ( ro, Uniunea Bisericilor Creștin Baptiste din România) is a Baptist Christian denomination in Romania. It is affiliated with the Romanian Evangelical Alliance and the Baptist World Alliance. T ...

and a representative of the

Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, officially abbreviated PNȚCD) is a Christian democratic and agrarian political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor o ...

(PNȚ-CD), he played a part in the 1989 Revolution, being among the organisers of protests in

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

Biography

Born in

Chelmac Conop ( hu, Konop) is a commune located in Arad County, 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 B ...

Arad County Arad County () is an administrative division ( judeţ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center ...

, Dugulescu graduated from the

Baptist Theological Seminary Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

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 ...

, and became a pastor, while authoring works of

Christian poetry Christian poetry is any poetry that contains Christian teachings, themes, or references. The influence of Christianity on poetry has been great in any area that Christianity has taken hold. Christian poems often directly reference the Bible, while ...

. During a period when 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 ...

engaged in the persecution of Baptists, he was kept under surveillance by the secret police (the

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

). The latter institution pressured him to stop preaching, and threatened that he was to suffer a car accident were he to refuse; Dugulescu refused to comply.Ramet, p.279 In September 1985, an unmarked bus crashed into the car he was driving, causing the pastor to suffer multiple fractures. Dugulescu's autobiography, ''Ei mi-au programat moartea'' ("They Programmed My Death", translated into English under the title ''Repenters''), details this interval and includes his own account of the events. Following the Revolution, Petru Dugulescu joined the PNȚ-CD, and was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

for

Timiș County Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...

during the 1992 suffrage, and again in the 1996 legislative election. He served on the Committee for Human Rights, Religious Affairs and National Minority Issues, as well as on the Committee for Foreign Policy. He was the founder and president of Charity Foundation Jesus the Hope of Romania and Onesimus Brothers House for

street children Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policym ...

. Dugulescu turned in his last book (''Democrație și Persecuție'', "Democracy and Persecution") for publication on 20 December 2007 and on the afternoon of 3 January 2008 he suffered a fatal heart attack."A murit pastorul Petrică Dugulescu"
i
''Paşi''
retrieved January 5, 2008

Notes

References

*
Profile at the Chamber of Deputies site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dugulescu, Petru 1945 births 2008 deaths Baptist writers Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party politicians People from Arad County People of the Romanian Revolution Romanian Protestant clergy Romanian dissidents Romanian memoirists Romanian philanthropists Romanian male poets Romanian Baptists 20th-century Baptist ministers 21st-century Baptist ministers 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century memoirists

Biography

See also

Notes

References