Chivu Stoica (the family name being Chivu; 8 August 1908 – 18 February 1975) was a leading

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 A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, who served as 48th

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was ...

Early life

Stoica was born in Smeeni,

Buzău County Buzău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 432,054 and the population density was 70.7/km2. * Romanians – 97% * Roma ...

, the sixth child of a ploughman. Paula Mihailov Chiciuc
"Din înaltul ordin al partidului"
, ''

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchare ...

'', July 18, 2006 At age 12 he left home, and started working as an apprentice at

Căile Ferate Române Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...

, the state railway corporation. In 1921, he moved to

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 ...

, where he worked as a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US De ...

at the Vulcan, Lemaître, and Malaxa companies. There he met Gheorghe Vasilichi, who recruited him into the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

(PCR).

Career

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0118-0010-073, Berlin, VI

In spring 1931, Stoica started working for the Grivița Railway Yards, where he met

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 ...

, Vasile Luca, and Constantin Doncea; together, they started organizing a strike. On 20 August 1934, he was sentenced to 15 years of prison for his role in the

Grivița Strike of 1933 Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, thei ...

. Stelian Tănase
''Dej – omul resentimentului''
, from Magazin Istoric At Târgu Jiu prison, he was close to Gheorghiu-Dej, who may have wanted Stoica to be his successor as General Secretary. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party from 1945 to 1975, and a member of the Politburo. He was

between 1955 and 1961 and as President of the

State Council of Romania The State Council ( ro, Consiliul de Stat) was a body of state power in the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1961 to 1989. It was the collective head of state before the creation of the office of President in 1974. Powers 1961–1974 The State ...

(de facto head of state) from 1965 until 1967. In his later years, Stoica fell out of favour with

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 ...

and his wife

Elena Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet Geography * Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...

Death

His death, by a

Holland & Holland Holland & Holland is a British gunmaker and clothing retailer based in London, England, which offers handmade sporting rifles and shotguns. The company holds two royal warrants. History Holland & Holland was founded by Harris Holland (1806 ...

hunting rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with bo ...

bullet to the head, was ruled a suicide.

Family

His first wife was Ecaterina (b. Klein), and his second one was Maria (b. Manolescu), an engineer, with whom he had a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoica, Chivu Heads of state of Romania Prime Ministers of Romania Deputy Prime Ministers of Romania State Council of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian communists Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp People from Buzău County Romanian politicians who committed suicide Suicides by firearm in Romania Boilermakers 1908 births 1975 suicides Communist rulers Communism in Romania Grand Crosses of the Order of the White Lion 1975 deaths