Marin Ceaușescu (2 February 1916 – 28 December 1989) 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 economist and diplomat, the older brother 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 ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

. He was born in 1916 in

Scornicești Scornicești () is a town in Olt County, Romania, with a population of 10,795. The town administers 13 villages (Bălțați, Bircii, Chițeasca, Constantinești, Jitaru, Mărgineni-Slobozia, Mihăilești-Popești, Mogoșești, Negreni, Piscani, R ...

Olt County Olt County () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (the regions are separated by the Olt River, Olt river). The capital city is Slatina, Roma ...

, the son of Andruță and Lixandra (née Militaru) Ceaușescu. After completing 4 years of school, he decided not to pursue his studies, but to help instead his parents with the farm work. In 1935 he joined 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 ...

. He later graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies 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 ...

. Starting in 1974, Ceaușescu headed the Romanian Economic Agency 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. ...

. He was believed to have been the conduit through whom Nicolae transferred millions of

United States dollar The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

s into

Swiss bank account Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and over the centuries has grown into a complex and regulated international industry. Banking is seen as very emblematic of Switzerland and the countr ...

s.Bruce W. Nelan
"Rumania Unfinished Revolution"
in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', January 8, 1990 He was found

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

in the basement of the Romanian Embassy in Vienna, three days after his brother was executed in 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 ...

December 1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. It was ruled a suicide by police. Austria's

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Franz Löschnak Franz Löschnak (born March 4, 1940, in Vienna) is an Austrian jurist and politician for the SPÖ. From 1987 to 1989 he was Secretary of Health in the federal government and from 1989 to 1995 he was head of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (Au ...

, said that Austrian officials suspected that Marin Ceaușescu worked for the Romanian security service. "Upheaval in the East, Brother of Ceausescu Was Suspected as Spy"
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', January 1, 1990 He left two daughters, Mihaela (m. Moraru) and Gabriela.

Footnotes

External links

* Marian Ghițeanu
"Marin Ceaușescu a fost împins spre sinucidere" ("Marin Ceaușescu Was Goaded into Suicide")
in ''

Ziarul ''Ziarul'' was a daily newspaper in Romania, published in Bucharest. It was founded in 2002 by Eugen Arnăutu, a PSD deputy. It was later taken over by Cristian Burca, former owner of the station Prima TV Prima TV () is a Romanian commercial T ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceausescu, Marin Romanian Communist Party politicians Marin Ceausescu Diplomats for Romania 20th-century Romanian economists Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni 1916 births Suicides by hanging in Austria 1989 suicides 1989 deaths People from Scornicești