''Scînteia'' (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

for "The Spark") was the name of two

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s edited by

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 ...

groups at different intervals in

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 ...

n history. The title is a homage to the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

paper ''

Iskra ''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...

''. It was known as ''Scânteia'' until the 1953 spelling reform, which replaced the letter ''Â'' with the phonologically identical ''Î'' in all cases.

History

1919 in Odessa

The first paper of that name was edited by Romanian revolutionaries in Bolshevist Russia, appearing throughout 1919 in the city of

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

In Romania (1931–1989)

''Scânteia'' reemerged as the official voice of the

Communist Party of Romania 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 ...

on August 15, 1931, being published clandestinely 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 ...

until 1940, when the hostility between Romania and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

grew to a level where a crackdown on

communist propaganda Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the t ...

became imminent. In the wake of

King Michael's Coup King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of 23 August 1944 and Romania's withdrawing from the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

and joining the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, ''Scânteia'' was yet again being published, to remain the approved, sanctioning, body of communist politics. During

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...

(since early 1948), the newspaper was the barometer of policy changes, and the main medium through which the regime indicated its aims (for example, ''Scînteia'' served as the tribune for

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

campaigns against intellectuals such as

Tudor Arghezi Tudor Arghezi (; 21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer, best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest, he explained that his pen name was related to ''Argesis'', th ...

). Moreover, in 1961, August 15, the date on which the newspaper had first been published in Romania 30 years previously, was declared the ''Romanian Press Day'' — indicative of the relationship between the official voice and other media. The headquarters of the paper were the main feature of the

Socialist Realist Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

''Combinatul Poligrafic Casa Scînteii "I.V. Stalin"'', a name later reduced to ''Casa Scînteii'', after it dropped the reference to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

during

De-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

. Today, the building goes by the name of the

House of the Free Press The House of the Free Press ( ro, Casa Presei Libere) is a building in northern Bucharest, Romania, the tallest in the city between 1956 and 2007. History A horse race track was built in 1905 on the future site of the House of the Free Press. ...

(''Casa Presei Libere''). ''Scînteia'' was accompanied by a youth version, one edited by the

Union of Communist Youth The Union of Communist Youth (Romanian language, Romanian: '; UTC) was the Romanian Communist Party's youth organisation. Like many Young Communist League, Young Communist organisations, it was modelled after the Soviet Union, Soviet Komsomol. I ...

(a branch of the Party that resembled the Soviet

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

, up to a point). ''Scînteia Tineretului'' (or ''Scânteia tineretului''; approximately "Youth's Spark") began its edition in November 1944. It was also published under the names of ''Tinerețea'' ("The Youth") and ''Tînărul Muncitor'' (or ''Tânărul Muncitor''; "The Young Worker").

Fate after December 1989

With the 1989 overthrow of the Communist regime came the outlawing of all Communist Party institutions, including all its newspapers, ''Scînteias assets were mostly taken over by the post-communist ''

Adevărul ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...

''.

Post-1944 editors in chief

Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, ...

(1944–1947) * Sorin Toma (1947–1960) *

Theodor Marinescu Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blueger ...

(1960–1965) *Dumitru Popescu (1965–1968) * Alexandru Ionescu (1968–1978) * Constantin Mitea (1978–1981) * Ion Cumpănașu (1981–1984) * Ion Mitran (1985–1989)

Other staff

* Dic Baboian *

Silviu Brucan Silviu Brucan (born Saul Bruckner; 18 January 1916 – 14 September 2006) was a Romanian Communist politician. He became a critic of the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. After the Romanian Revolution, Brucan became a political analyst. Ear ...

* Constantin Chiriță *

Leonte Răutu Leonte Răutu (until 1945 Lev Nikolayevich (Nicolaievici) Oigenstein; February 28, 1910 – 1993) was a Bessarabian-born Romanian communist activist and propagandist. He was chief ideologist of the Romanian Communist Party ("Workers' Party") ...

References

"''Scânteia'', ziarul cu două fețe" ("''Scânteia'', the Two-Faced Journal")
in ''

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 ...

'', 14 January 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Scinteia 1931 establishments in Romania 1989 disestablishments in Romania Communist newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Romania Eastern Bloc mass media Newspapers published in Bucharest Publications established in 1931 Publications disestablished in 1989 Socialist newspapers published in Romania Romanian Communist Party