Ion Diaconescu (; 25 August 1917 – 11 October 2011) was a Romanian anti-Communist activist and

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 ...

. He was imprisoned as a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

for seventeen years from 1947 to 1964 during Romania's Communist era. Diaconescu later became a leader of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD). Born in Boțești, Argeș County, Diaconescu began his political in 1936, when he joined the Peasants' Party (PNȚ) youth wing. Laura Ciobanu
"Ion Diaconescu, o viaţă trăită între speranţă şi suferinţă" ("Ion Diaconescu, a Life Lived between Hope and Suffering")
''Evenimentul Zilei''. 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-15. The Communist Party took power in Romania in 1947 following

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 ...

. Diaconescu was arrested in 1947, but survived his imprisonment at a Romanian

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

. Romanian authorities released him in 1964 after seventeen years in prison as party of an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

program for political prisoners. Romanian

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 the Communist government fell in the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...

. Diaconescu co-founded the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) in 1989, just after the revolution. Diaconescu served as the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania ( ro, Parlamentul României) is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies ( ro, Camera Deputaților) and the Senate ( ro, Senat). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bu ...

, from 1996 to 2000. In 2011, Diaconescu criticized his own Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD), which has been plagued by in-fighting, saying that the party should be relaunched under the leadership of former Prime Minister,

Victor Ciorbea Victor Ciorbea (; born on 26 October 1954) is a Romanian jurist, politician, and civil/public servant. He was the Mayor of Bucharest between 1996 and 1997 and, after his resignation from this public dignity/position, Prime Minister of Romania fr ...

. Diaconescu died in Bucharest in 2011, at the age of 94. He had suffered from heart ailments during his later years. His burial took place 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 ...

at the

Bellu cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. Th ...

. A

moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...

was held in the Parliament of Romania in his honor. He received praise from many Romania's politicians and activists. Former Romanian President

Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...

called Diaconescu, "a symbol of communist resistance in Romania and Eastern Europe, and a symbol of honesty and honor." Former

Romanian Prime Minister 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 s ...

paid tribute to Diaconescu saying, "Ion Diaconescu understood that faith and principles are national treasures, and he didn’t betray these (values), enduring 17 years in communist prisons." One of Romania's best known political activists,

Doina Cornea Doina Cornea (; 30 May 1929 – 3 May 2018) was a Romanian human rights activist and French language professor. She was a dissident during the communist rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu. She was co-founder of the Democratic Anti-totalitarian Forum of ...

, also praised Diaconescu's life and career, "Today’s politicians only think about their own interests. ... That is why Romania is crawling along."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaconescu, Ion 1917 births 2011 deaths Romanian dissidents Romanian prisoners and detainees Inmates of Aiud prison Inmates of Râmnicu Sărat prison Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) National Peasants' Party politicians 20th-century Romanian politicians People from Argeș County Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party politicians