Leontin Sălăjan ( hu, Szilágyi Ignác; 19 June 1913 – 28 August 1966) 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 military and political leader. Born in Santău Commune,

Satu Mare County Satu Mare County ( ro, Județul Satu Mare, ) is a county (județ) of Romania, on the border with Hungary and Ukraine. The capital city is Satu Mare. Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szatmár megye'', in German as ''Kreis Sathmar'', in Ukrain ...

(then in

Szilágy County Szilágy (Romanian: Sălaj) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania. The capital of the county was Zilah (present-day Zalău in Romania). Geography Szilágy county shared ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

),Galeria Şefilor SMG
at the Romanian Defense Ministry site; accessed April 2, 2012 he was of Hungarian ethnicity, a locksmith by training.Biografiile nomenklaturii
, at the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile site; accessed April 2, 2012 In 1934, he was recruited into the military engineering branch of the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

, performing his military service in a broadcasting regiment. He joined the banned Romanian Communist Party in 1939, belonging to its

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

n faction and holding positions in its

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

structures. Florin Mihai
"Generalul Ceaușescu, pe 'frontul' politic al Armatei"
, ''Adevărul'', 27 September 2011; accessed April 2, 2012 In 1948, following the establishment of a

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, he became deputy Health Minister, followed by a stint in 1949-1950 as Constructions Minister. In 1950, despite his limited military experience, he was promoted to army general and named

Chief of the Romanian General Staff The Chief of General Staff ( ro, Șeful Statului Major General) is the highest professional military authority in the Romanian Armed Forces. He is appointed by the President of Romania, at the National Defense Minister's proposal (with the appro ...

, holding the office until 1954. He was made Armed Forces Minister in 1955, holding the position until his death. While in this office, he was a close ally of

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 ...

, alongside whom he sat on a high command during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, charged with suppressing unrest by any means necessary, including ordering security forces to open fire.

Vladimir Tismăneanu Vladimir Tismăneanu (; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is di ...

, ''Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism'', p.154.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

, 2003, Within the party, he was a member of the central committee from 1945, and with Ceaușescu's rise to general secretary in 1965, he first became alternate member of the politburo and then member of the executive committee. He died after a failed ulcer operation that resulted in much speculation. In May 1966, he had participated in a rancorous meeting in

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 ...

with

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 ...

Marshal

Andrei Grechko Andrei Antonovich Grechko (, ; – 26 April 1976) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union (from 1955). He was Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1976. Early life Grechko was the thirteenth child born to a family of Ukrainian peasant ...

, with the latter demanding increased Romanian military participation in the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

and the Romanian side, increasingly assertive of independence, hesitating to embrace the idea. As with the controversial death of

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 ...

a year earlier, Sălăjan's end came after being operated upon by doctors at Elias Hospital. According to an anesthesiologist who was present, Ceaușescu appeared after a first operation, encouraging the doctors: "Comrades, do something heroic!" Christian Levant
"Vizita la Moscova, ucigătoare și pentru Leontin Sălăjan"
''Adevărul'', 13 October 2007; accessed April 2, 2012 Sălăjan was elected to the Assembly of Deputies for

Sălaj County Sălaj County () (also known as ''Land of Silvania'', ''silva, -ae'' means "forest") is a Counties of Romania, county (''județ'') of Romania, located in the north-west of the country, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Cr ...

in 1946 and obtained a Sălăj seat in the

Great National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to: * Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania * Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of ...

(MAN) in 1948, holding it until 1952. Later, he sat for Arad from 1952 to

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

and for Oradea from 1957 until his death. In 1963, he was awarded the Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic, first class.Florica Dobre (ed.)
''Membrii C. C. al P. C. R.: 1945-1989''
CNSAS, p. 529. Editura Enciclopedicã, Bucharest, 2004,

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salajan, Leontin 1913 births 1966 deaths People from Satu Mare County Romanian locksmiths Romanian politicians of Hungarian descent Romanian communists Members of the Great National Assembly Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian Land Forces generals Chiefs of the General Staff of Romania Romanian Ministers of Defence Romanian Ministers of Public Works Romanian Ministers of Transport Recipients of the Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic