Moș Gerilă is the name of a character from Romanian folklore and

communist propaganda Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the te ...

Origin of the name

The Romanian word ''moș'' means an elder male person. The term ''ger'' means "frost" in Romanian. Moș Gerilă's name is a translation of the Russian

Ded Moroz Ded Moroz, or Morozko (), is a legendary figure similar to Father Christmas, and Santa Claus who has his roots in Slavic mythology. The tradition of Ded Moroz is mostly spread in East Slavs, East Slavic countries and is a significant part of Russi ...

and was adopted by the Romanian communists, under influence of the Soviet model, as a new name for Moș Crăciun (

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

Appearance

In 1947, the newspaper ''Națiunea'' published an illustration of Moș Gerilă as a young, athletic, proletarian, bare-chested man.

History of the character

Origins

During the period from 1944 to 1948, Romanian Communist Party newspapers tried to denigrate the image of Christmas, emphasizing, for example, the peasant origins of many '' colinde''. In 1948, after the Communists took power in Romania, the word ''Crăciun'' ceased to appear in any article in the newspaper '' Scînteia''. The word ''Crăciun'' was considered too religious, and therefore instead of Moș Crăciun, (the Romanian name for

), a new character was introduced in the 1950s: Moș Gerilă. Children were told that it was Moș Gerilă who brought gifts each December 25. In the three years following the installation of the Communists in power, Christmas celebrations were transferred to the New Year, December 30, the day when King

Michael of Romania Michael I ( ; 25 October 1921 – 5 December 2017) was the last King of Romania, reigning from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930 and again from 6 September 1940 until his forced abdication on 30 December 1947. Shortly after Michael's birth, his f ...

abdicated in 1947, was renamed the ''Day of the Republic''. December 25 and 26 became working days.

Decline

In the 1980s, the

personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an ideali ...

of "the beloved leader" would leave its imprint on the character of Moș Gerilă. Children's New Year gifts were associated less with Moș Gerilă and more with the state itself, personified 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 ...

. After the

Romanian Revolution of 1989 The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revoluti ...

, Moș Gerilă lost influence and the older character of Moș Crăciun returned.

Notes and references