Ștefan Gușă or Gușe (17 April 1940 – 28 March 1994) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n general who was the Chief of the General Staff of the

Romanian Armed Forces The Romanian Armed Forces ( or ''Armata Română'') are the military forces of Romania. It comprises the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Force. The current Commander-in-chief is Lieutenant General Gheorghiță Vlad who is managed by ...

between 1986 and 1989. He was born in Spătaru, a village in Costești commune,

Buzău County Buzău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, 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/km ...

, and attended the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu High School in the county capital,

Buzău Buzău (; formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu'') is a city in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania, and the county seat of Buzău County. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

. In 1957 he enrolled in the military school for officers in

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...

. He graduated in 1960 first in his class and was promoted to lieutenant, advancing in rank to senior lieutenant in 1963 and captain in 1965. During that period, he joined in 1962 the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

(PCR, at the time, PMR). From 1966 he attended the Military Technical Academy in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, advancing to major in 1971, and graduating with an engineering degree in 1972. In September of that year, he was appointed commander of the 6th "Ion Buteanu" Tank Regiment, within the Romanian 3rd Army. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1974, he held this command until August 1976, when he was named chief of staff of the 6th "Horia, Cloșca and Crișan" Tank Division. After becoming colonel in 1979, he took command of the division in 1981, and advanced to major general in 1984. On 25 September 1986, he was promoted to the position of First Deputy Minister of National Defense and

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

. At the Fourteenth Party Congress of the Communist Party (20–24 November 1989), he became a member of the Central Committee of the PCR, to which he belonged until 22 December of that year. Gușă was a key figure during the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of December 1989. He was part of the team of generals sent by

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

on 17 December, being present there during the repression from 17–20 December, in which 73 people died. After returning to Bucharest, he appeared many times during those days live on radio and television, asking for a ceasefire. In his capacity as Chief of the General Staff, he refused to ask for the help of Soviet troops or other

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

countries to assist the Romanian Army restore order. From 22 to 26 December, he was a member of the Council of the National Salvation Front (FSN). Film director

Sergiu Nicolaescu Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu (; 13 April 1930 – 3 January 2013) was a Romanian people, Romanian film director, actor and politician. He was best known for his historical films, such as ''Michael the Brave (film), Mihai Viteazul'' (1970, released in ...

, an active participant in the Revolution and a member of the FSN, alleged in the media that Gușă tried to organize a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

on 23 December, but he could not muster support from the Army. On 28 December, shortly after the execution of Ceaușescu, he was dismissed from his position as Chief of the General Staff and was named chief of staff of the 4th Army, with headquarters in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. In January 1990 he was promoted to lieutenant general, and the next month he became Commanding Officer of the 2nd Army, with headquarters in

. He died in March 1994 of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

at a military hospital in Bucharest (other sources mention

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

). Streets in

Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...

and Vaslui bear his name.

References

External links

* * * 1940 births 1994 deaths People from Buzău County Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College alumni Chiefs of the General Staff of Romania Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian Communist Party politicians People of the Romanian revolution Deaths from lung cancer in Romania {{Romania-mil-bio-stub