Ghiță Moscu (born Gelbert or Gelber Moscovici, also known as Alexandru Bădulescu, ; 1889 – November 4, 1937) 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 ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activist, one of the early leaders of 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 ...

and its permanent delegate to the

Third International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internation ...

. He was executed in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

Biography

He was born in a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in Băiceni, near

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, in north-eastern Romania. He was the son of an immigrant petty merchant who had fought in the Romanian Independence War. A student of the Iași superior school of commerce until 1910, in 1906 Moscu joined the local socialist ''

România Muncitoare ''România Muncitoare'' ("Working Romania" or "Laborer Romania") was a socialist newspaper, published in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Eur ...

circle'', where his older brother,

Ilie Moscovici Ilie B. Moscovici (also known as Tovilie; 28 November 1885 – 1 November 1943) was a Romanian socialist militant and journalist, one of the noted leaders of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR). A socialist since early youth and a party ...

, a future leader of the

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

Romanian Social Democratic Party, was already active. Involved in the youth section, he contributed to the creation of the Circle for the Socialist Education of the Youth, which included young workers as well as school students. Moscu represented the socialists of

Pașcani Pașcani () is a city in Iași County in the Western Moldavia region of Romania, on the Siret river. , it has a population of 30,766. Five villages are administered by the city: Blăgești, Boșteni, Gâstești, Lunca, and Sodomeni. The city der ...

at the 1910 Congress reorganizing the Social Democratic Party of Romania, before being drafted in the autumn of the same year, and participating as a soldier in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

. After

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or becaus ...

, he moved to

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 ...

, where he started working for an insurance company and joined the local socialist section. During the years before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Moscu was engaged in the pacifist anti-war movement, writing articles in the socialist youth press. In 1915, at the fourth Congress, where he participated as a delegate for

, Moscu was elected in the party's control commission. In August 1915 he was also elected in the Committee of the newly created commercial employees' trade union. Other political position held during this period include membership in the local Trade Union Commission, the Bucharest Party Committee and the commission for the ideological control of the party's press. During the war, Moscu gradually moved toward communism, being engaged with the " maximalist" group that chose to continue its activity clandestinely in German-occupied Romania. In 1918 he was arrested in Bucharest by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

military administration and sentenced to four and a half years confinement in

Jilava Prison Jilava Prison () is a prison located in Jilava, a village south of Bucharest, Romania. History The prison began as Fort 13, part of the fortifications of Bucharest built in the 1870s and 1880s. It served as an arms deposit and garrison until 1 ...

for spreading a manifesto saluting the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. Set free in November 1918, he was arrested again the following month on charges of "attack on public security", after the reinstalled Romanian authorities opened fire on demonstrating workers during a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

. Moscu left the country in March 1919 and, after a brief internment at

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...

, made his way to Austria, where he re-established contact with the Romanian movement. In November he represented the youth wing of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

in the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Congress that created the Communist Youth International, signing its founding manifesto in the name of the ''Working Youth'' of Romania. After a failed attempt to return to Romania in the summer of 1920, Moscu was finally able to do so during autumn. In Bucharest he became one of the main supporters of the creation of a Communist Party, also organising a conference of the clandestine communist factions in Iași during the spring of 1921. In June 1921 he left Romania for

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

with his wife Clara (also known under the pseudonym ''Ana Bădulescu''). Moscu, who had by the time adopted the name ''Bădulescu'', headed the Romanian delegation to the Third Congress of the Communist International (Comintern), being elected a member of its

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

(ECCI), as the sole Romanian representative. At the same Congress his wife was elected in the International Communist Women's Secretariat. Afterwards, the couple moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and was active in the Comintern press. Designated the Romanian representative to the

Balkan Communist Federation In late 19th and throughout the 20th century, the establishment of a Balkan Federation had been a recurrent suggestion of various political factions in the Balkans. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century among left-w ...

in 1922, Moscu moved to Bulgaria, where the latter organisation had its headquarters. Following the Balkan Conference held in Moscow in autumn 1923, he settled in the Soviet Union and was appointed deputy rapporteur of the ECCI for the

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

countries. In 1924 he was admitted in the

Bolshevik Party The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

, and later that year participated in Romanian Communist Party's third congress, which took place in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. During most of the interwar, Moscu remained the RCP permanent delegate to the Comintern, and in 1927 he was also appointed a member in the Balkan Secretariat of the Comintern. In 1929, during the intense factional fights which divided the Romanian Communist Party, Moscu left the Comintern apparatus and, after taking some university courses in commerce, he led the international section of the Soviet National Committee of Standardization. After September 1932, when the section was disbanded, he worked as the assistant manager of the international section of the

People's Commissariat for Communications of the USSR The People's Commissariat for Communications of the USSR () was the central state agency of the Soviet Union for communications in the period 1932 to 1946. The Commissariat administered the postal, telegraph and telephone services. History The ...

. Temporarily excluded from the Communist Party, Moscu had to leave this position and start working as a consulting editor for the ''Co-operative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers in the USSR''. Expelled again from the Party in 1935, he was eventually killed in 1937, during the

, accused of creating a spy ring inside the ECCI. He was later rehabilitated, first in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and then in

, during the

de-stalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...

campaigns in the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moscovici, Gelbert 1889 births 1937 deaths People from Iași County Bolsheviks Executive Committee of the Communist International Expelled members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Great Purge victims from Romania Jewish socialists Jews executed by the Soviet Union Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union People of the Russian Civil War Romanian Comintern people Romanian emigrants to the Soviet Union Romanian Jews Romanian journalists Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian pacifists Social Democratic Party of Romania (1910–1918) politicians Romanian trade unionists Socialist Republic of Romania rehabilitations Soviet journalists Romanian male journalists Soviet politicians Soviet rehabilitations Inmates of Jilava Prison