Ivan Ivanovich Bodiul (russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Бо́дюл; – 27 January 2013) was a

Soviet 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 nation ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

n politician prominent in the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...

, particularly during the

Brezhnev era Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 19 ...

. He was primarily responsible for the controversial decision to amend the Anthem of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1980. It was the best anthem of the Soviet Republics (according to the 1950 musical competition).

Early life

Bodiul was born in 1918, in Oleksandrivka,

Mykolaiv Oblast Mykolaiv Oblast ( uk, Микола́ївська о́бласть, translit=Mykoláyivsʹka óblastʹ, ), also referred to as Mykolaivshchyna ( uk, Микола́ївщина, Mykoláivshchyna, ) is an oblast (province) of Ukraine. The administra ...

, in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In spite of his Moldavian origin, he was a poor speaker of the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

. After graduating in 1937 from the local agricultural college, he worked as a senior agronomist on a collective farm. From 1938-1942, he was a student of the Military Veterinary Academy of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, where in 1940 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After graduating from the academy, he fought in the regular army as a veterinary officer in the 127th Guards Artillery Regiment of the 59th Guards Rifle Division. After demobilization, as an ethnic Moldovan, he was sent to undertake economic work in the Moldavian SSR. He later became senior agricultural assistant to the Council of Ministers. He then moved up the ranks of the local party structure, first as leader of the Chisinau, Volontirovsky and Olanesti District Committees of the CPM and then as a student of the Higher Party School in

First Secretary

He was the First Secretary of the

Communist Party of Moldavia The Communist Party of Moldavia ( ro, Partidul Comunist al Moldovei, PCM; Moldovan Cyrillic: Партидул Комунист ал Молдовей; russian: Коммунистическая партия Молдавии) was the ruling and the ...

, the republic branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 28 May 1961 to 30 December 1980. Bodiul was one of the most authoritarian rulers of

Soviet Moldavia The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

. During first part of his rule, his policy concerns and actions were centred on

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. A number of dissidents were imprisoned, including members of the Communist Party, while others were punished. His main supporters were the 2nd Secretaries of the Communist Party ( Yuri Melkov until 1973 and Nikolay Merenishchev from 1973–1981), who came from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

, whose Moldavian chairmen were

Ivan Savchenko Ivan Tikhonovich Savchenko (1908-2000) was a Soviet Communist Party and KGB executive. Savchenko made a career as a political officer in the Red Army during World War II. A protégé of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, Savchenko transferred ...

(until 1966), Piotr Chvertko (1966–1974) and Arkady Ragozin (1974–1979). Bodiul continued the fight for atheism, during which many churches were closed or destroyed. In the second part of his rule (from 1976 onwards), the anti-national policy was less harsh, and economic development expanded in the Moldavian SSR. Bodiul was known as one of the most loyal followers of

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...

, a predecessor in his role as Moldavian First Secretary. Nicolae Ceausescu si Ivan Bodiul

In December 1976, Bodiul and his wife, Claudia, were the first high-level Soviet Moldavian visitors to Communist Romania since the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

and the annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. At one of his meetings 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 ...

, Bodiul said that "the good relationship was initiated by Ceauşescu's visit to Soviet Moldavia, which led to the expansion of contacts and exchanges in all fields." In August 1976, Bodiul had met Ceauşescu and his wife at the frontier and escorted them to Chişinău.

Move to Moscow and retirement

He served as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR from 1980 to May 1985, when he retired from active politics to a dacha in the Moscow Oblast as the

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

Gorbachev era commenced. He obtained a PhD in Philosophy in 1985. He died on January 27, 2013 in

. His daughters, Svetlana and Natalia Bodiul, live in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Awards

Bodiul was decorated by many Soviet orders and medals, including 4

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

. On 3 January 2003, Bodiul was decorated by the Moldovan President

Vladimir Voronin Vladimir Voronin (; born 25 May 1941) is a Soviet and Moldovan politician. He was the third president of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) since 1994. H ...

with the Order of the Republic, "for long and prodigious work in the supreme organs of state power, substantial contribution to the development Republic of Moldova on the occasion of his 85th birthday." His decoration provoked the protest of the Writers' Union of Moldova, who renounced their own Orders of the Republic in protest.

References

* *** – ''Enciclopedia sovietică moldovenească'' ( Chişinău, 1970–1977)

External links