Ilie Ceaușescu (8 June 1926 – 1 October 2002) 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 army general 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 ...

politician who was Deputy Defence Minister of

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

during the rule of his older brother,

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 ...

. Ilie's military and political career was helped by Nicolae; between 1980 and 1989, he was a member of the Central Committee 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, in 1982-1989, he was Deputy Minister of Defense. Ilie Ceaușescu was also a historian, and he influenced Nicolae in establishing protochronism as Romania's official

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

and an important part of the national

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

system. For instance, he claimed that the

Romanian people Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

have been always the same since time immemorial, being very little influenced by other people ( Romans,

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) etc.: After 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 ...

and the execution of Nicolae Ceaușescu, in 1990 it was claimed that both Ilie and Marin Ceaușescu were involved in a series of transactions between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and Romania, which consisted of selling

Soviet 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 ...

military technology. The deal was allegedly worth $40 million, part of which was allegedly deposited in

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. However, Ilie Ceaușescu rejected that. He retired from public life after the revolution, and died 13 years later at the age of 76."Obituaries; in brief: Ilie Ceausescu", ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', October 4, 2002, p.R15

Works

English

* ''The entire people's war for the homeland's defence with the Romanians: From times of yore to present days'', Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1980 * ''Transylvania, an ancient Romanian land'', Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1983 * ''23 August 1944: 200 days spared from World War II'', Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, 1984 * ''From the Dacian state to socialist Romania: 2,000 years of statehood'', Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1985 * ''A Turning Point in World War II'', East European Monographs,

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

, 1985 * ''Independence - a fundamental aim of the Romanian people: Traditions, present features, prospects'' Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1987 * ''Romanian Military Doctrine'', East European Monographs, Boulder, 1988

Romanian

* ''Transilvania: Străvechi pamînt românesc'', Ed. Militară, Bucharest, 1984 (with Florin Constantiniu and Mihail E. Ionescu) * ''Mobilitate socială'', Ed. Academiei, Bucharest, 1973

Notes

References

* Katherine Verdery, ''National Ideology under Socialism. Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceaușescu's Romania'',

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 faculty ...

, Berkeley, 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceausescu, Ilie 1926 births 2002 deaths Ilie Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian Land Forces generals 20th-century Romanian historians