Avram Bunaciu (; 11 November 1909 – 28 April 1983) was a

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 communist politician who served as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

and in march 1965 was for 5 days the acting President of the State Council of Romania.

Early life and political career

Bunaciu was born in 1909 in Gurba, a village not far from Arad, to a Romanian peasant family. Some far-right sources have claimed that he was of Jewish origin; however, according to recent research by Romanian historians, this claim has been discredited. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he and his elder brother were mobilized in the army and the family lived in poverty. After graduating from the Samuil Vulcan High School in

Beiuș Beiuș (; hu, Belényes) is a city in Bihor County, Romania near the Apuseni Mountains. The river Crișul Negru flows through Beiuș, and the city administers a single village, Delani (''Gyalány''). Between the late 18th and very early 20th ...

, he studied Law from 1929 to 1933 at the University of Cluj. He was a communist intellectual 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 opposing ...

and had several high ranking positions after the war, mostly within the Ministry of Justice. Bunaciu was a lawyer by profession and close ally to

Ion Gheorghe Maurer Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer (23 September 1902 – 8 February 2000) was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer, and the 49th Prime Minister of Romania. He is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Romania (having served for ...

, with whom he defended communists at pre-war trials; he was also close to

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 eventually became the President of the State Council and ''de facto'' ruler of Romania. After the war, Bunaciu was one of the main prosecutors of the People's Tribunals. There were two such tribunals in post-war Romania (one in Bucharest and one in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...

) which were charged with trials of individuals involved in war crimes. From May 30 to June 4, 1945, together with

Alexandra Sidorovici Alexandra Sidorovici (6 July 1906 – 25 August 2000) was a Romanian politician. A prominent communist, she was one of the first group of women elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1946. Biography Sidorovici was born in 1906 in Constanța in a ...

, Constantin Vicol, and Ion D. Ioan, he prosecuted in Bucharest a dozen prominent journalists, including Pan M. Vizirescu, ,

Stelian Popescu Stelian Popescu (February 18, 1874 in Lacu Turcului, Prahova County – 8 March 1954 in Madrid, Spain) was a nationalist Romanian journalist. Biography He was elected to Parliament many times. He was Minister of Justice in the Ionescu ca ...

Nichifor Crainic Nichifor Crainic (; pseudonym of Ion Dobre ; 22 December 1889, Bulbucata, Giurgiu County – 20 August 1972, Mogoșoaia) was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theologian famed for his traditionalist activities. Crainic was a ...

, , and Radu Gyr. Afterwards, Bunaciu was the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Cluj tribunal, which was set up on 22 June 1945 to prosecute war criminals. Bunaciu was involved in prosecuting mainly crimes committed by Hungarian authorities and their collaborators in Northern Transylvania, while the Bucharest tribunal mostly dealt with crimes perpetrated by Romanians under Marshal Ion Antonescu.

State career

Bunaciu served as the Minister of Justice of Romania from 25 March 1948 until 23 September 1949. In 1952, Bunaciu was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs when

Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...

was the minister. At the time he also was the Chairman of the National Assembly for the Application of Constitution. When Pauker was sacked by the communist leadership aided by

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 Secretar ...

, Bunaciu left the foreign service and became the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of 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 ...

in 1954. On 13 January 1958 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 20 March 1961, when he left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was elected Vice President of the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

. From 19 March to 24 March 1965, before

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

came to power, he was the '' acting'' President of the State Council.

Personal life

He married Noemi Nussbacher (at the time, a fellow communist sympathiser) in Cluj in 1938; the Bunacius had two children, Tudor and Doina, a physicist now living in Switzerland. He died in 1983 in Bucharest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunaciu, Avram 1909 births 1983 deaths People from Arad County Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Romanian jurists Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Romanian Ministers of Justice State Council of Romania Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Rectors of the University of Bucharest

Early life and political career

State career

Personal life

See also

References