Manea Mănescu (; 9August 191627February 2009) 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 ...

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 served as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

for five years (27February 197429March 1979) during

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 ...

's Communist regime. His father was a Communist Party veteran from

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

, who in the early 1920s supported the transformation of the Socialist Party into 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). Mănescu joined the PCR in 1938, while he was a student at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. In 1944, after the 23 August coup d'état, he worked together with

, his future brother-in-law, in the Union of Communist Youth. In 1951, Mănescu was appointed as head of the Department of Economics at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

and Director General of the Central Directorate of Statistics. He served as Finance Minister from 1955 until 1957. In December 1967 he was appointed Chairman of the Economic Council. He was promoted to full membership of the Executive Committee of the PCR in December 1968 and, after holding various positions in the party and government, he became Prime Minister in March 1974, a position he held until 1979, when he retired, reportedly due to ill health.Biodata
/ref> Also in 1974 he became titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

. Mănescu stayed close to Ceaușescu and his wife,

Elena Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu (; born Lenuța Petrescu; 7 January 1916 – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic o ...

up until 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 1989. He left the Central Committee's building by helicopter together with them on 22 December, though he had to disembark at Snagov due to too much weight in the craft. He was arrested shortly afterward and taken to the airbase at Deveselu, where he was kept in detention until 31 December. Tried in early 1990 together with Emil Bobu, Ion Dincă, and Tudor Postelnicu, Mănescu was sentenced to life in prison for participation in genocide; on appeal, his sentence was reduced to 10 years. He served two years in prison, and was set free on 12 November 1992 due to poor health. Because of his conviction, he was stripped of his membership in the Romanian Academy. He died in 2009, aged 92, and was buried at Bellu Cemetery 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 ...

Family

Mănescu's wife, Maria Munteanu Mănescu, was a well known pediatrician. In December 1973, she was named Vice Chairman of the Romanian Red Cross Society. She was also named a member of the (Romanian) National Council of Women in April 1978. It is not clear if the Mănescus had any children.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manescu, Manea 1916 births 2009 deaths Politicians from Brăila People of the Romanian revolution Prime ministers of Romania Deputy prime ministers of Romania State Council of Romania Ministers of finance of Romania Romanian Communist Party politicians Romanian politicians convicted of crimes Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni Academic staff of the University of Bucharest Academic staff of the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies Prisoners and detainees of Romania Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Romania Burials at Bellu Cemetery