Petre Borilă (born Iordan Dragan Rusev; Bulgarian: Йордан Драган Русев, ''Yordan Dragan Rusev''; 13 February 1906 – 2 January 1973) 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 briefly served as Vice-

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

under the Communist regime. A member 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 ...

(PCR) since his late teens, he was a political commissar in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and a Comintern cadre afterwards, spending

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in exile 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 ...

. Borilă returned to Romania during the late 1940s, and rose to prominence under Communist rule, when he was a member of the PCR's Central Committee and

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. Initially close to the faction formed around Ana Pauker and Vasile Luca, Borilă rallied with their adversary Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, thus ensuring his own political survival. He subsequently endorsed the official policies, and played a part in ousting Gheorghiu-Dej's newly found rival, Iosif Chișinevschi, but was progressively marginalized after Nicolae Ceaușescu emerged as Romania's ruler in 1965. Objecting to Ceaușescu's

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, he also had a notorious personal conflict with the new leader, after the latter's son Valentin married Borilă's daughter.

Biography

Borilă was born to ethnic Bulgarian parents in the

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja or South Dobruja ( or simply , ; or , ), also the Quadrilateral (), is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silistra provinces, part of the historical region of Dobruja. It has an area of 7,412 square km an ...

n city of Silistra, which was at the time part of the Principality of Bulgaria (''de jure'' under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

) and, between 1913 and 1940, part of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

. He joined the newly outlawed Romanian Communist Party (PCR) in 1924, and became known under his adoptive name, at some point in the 1930s.Tismăneanu, ''Stalinism...'', p.293 The party appointed him commissar with the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

fighting for the Republican side in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, whence he returned after the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

victory.George H. Hodos, ''Show Trials: Stalinist Purges in Eastern Europe, 1948-1954'', Praeger/Greenwood, Westport, 1987, p.99. During

, Petre Borilă resided in the

, where he was still present as Romania joined the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

in the 1941 invasion. He worked for the Comintern before its 1943 dissolution, being a personal collaborator to its leaders, Georgi Dimitrov and Dmitry Manuilsky. At the time, he also had close contacts with other prominent Romanian communist exiles, including Luca, Pauker, Leonte Răutu, and Valter Roman — this nucleus – "the Muscovite faction" – representing a distinct group inside the PCR, planned to take over the entire party upon their return to Romania. In this, they were opposed by the "prison faction", whose members, including its leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, had been arrested and were serving time in Romania. According to historian Vladimir Tismăneanu, Borilă had grown aware that support for his faction was fragile, and, in order to ensure his political survival, chose to always maintain close contacts with Gheorghiu-Dej. Borilă returned to Romania with the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

after the Soviet occupation in August 1944. As the Luca-Pauker group ensured a main role in leading the reunited PCR (known for a while afterwards as the Romanian Workers' Party, or PMR), he himself rose to prominence: following the establishment of a Communist regime (1947), he was a member of the Central Committee (1948–1969) and of the

(1952–1965). He was also among those charged with politically supervising its new

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

, the Securitate. During the early 1950s, he and fellow PCR members ( Dumitru Coliu and Ion Vincze) organized political repression through a series of violent measures. Reputedly, his relations with Pauker and Luca grew tense as early as 1950, when the former two began a campaign aimed at removing Spanish Civil War volunteers from the PMR leadership, in view of subjecting them to a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

. At the time, Gheorghe Vasilichi and Valter Roman were singled out as "spies", and Borilă himself seems to have been considered as a victim of the purge. His renewed contacts with Gheorghiu-Dej were taken as a sign that the International Brigades veterans were ready to play a role in ousting the Pauker–Luca faction, and as such granted protection by the other main group. In 1952, Borilă aligned with other PMR leaders and facilitated the fall of the Pauker-Luca faction (initiated by Vasile Luca's arrest). He remained a relatively important figure during Gheorghiu-Dej's supremacy, serving as Vice-

in 1954–1965. In 1956, he was, alongside Gheorghiu-Dej, Miron Constantinescu, and Iosif Chișinevschi, one of Romania's delegates to the famous 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party, where, to their surprise,

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

condemned

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and announced a path to

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 ...

. As a consequence of this move, Gheorghiu-Dej made a claim to have De-Stalinized the PCR years before Khrushchev, and linked

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

exclusively to the fallen Pauker-Luca faction: Petre Borilă played a significant part in this process, rallying with the Romanian leader as the latter purged the PMR of members who advocated increased

liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...

. Later in the same year, together with Gheorghiu-Dej, Vincze, Constantin Pîrvulescu, and Alexandru Moghioroș, he engaged in talks with Pauker, who was by then released from detention and placed under close Securitate surveillance — they attempted to have her confess to political crimes, but she defiantly continued to deny the bulk of the charges. Despite the ideological conflict between the PCR and Khrushchev, Romania supported Soviet intervention against the 1956 Revolution in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and Gheorghiu-Dej agreed to have dissident Hungarian leader Imre Nagy kept under arrest in Snagov. Alongside Valter Roman, Nicolae Goldberger, and others, Borilă came to Snagov and played a personal part in pressuring Nagy and other members of his fallen cabinet to confess (1957). During the following years, he backed Gheorghiu-Dej in his conflict with Chișinevschi and Miron Constantinescu, both of whom were ousted from the PMR leadership after being publicly exposed to criticism. This was especially the case during a 1961 plenum meeting of the Workers' Party, when he voiced harsh criticism of Chișinevschi, but also Pauker and Luca, whom he depicted as enforcers of Soviet directives. Between 1965 and 1969, under Romania's new leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, he was a member of the executive committee (the reformed Politburo of the PCR, as the latter discarded its PMR name). Nevertheless, he came to clash with Ceaușescu over various issues, the most important of which being the open encouragement of

and claims of independence inside 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 ...

(policies to which the pro-Soviet Borilă was strongly opposed). A particular point of contention between Ceaușescu and Borilă was the personal life of their children. Borilă, who was married to Ecaterina Abraham, a Romanian communist of

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 ...

origin, was father to Iordana (or Dana), who fell in love with and married Ceaușescu's oldest son, Valentin. Both families objected to their wedding, and their relations grew notably tense. Lavinia Betea
"Viața 'mâinii drepte' a lui Ceaușescu" (interview with Andrei Lupu)
in '' Jurnalul Naţional'', March 21, 2007 Lucia Ivănescu
"Ce cadouri primea Ceaușescu de ziua lui" (interview with Constantin Roguschi)
, in '' Cronica Română'', January 26, 2007

Legacy

According to Vladimir Tismăneanu, Petre Borilă had gained an ill notoriety for being involved in "the most secretive of political affairs", and was considered "a distant and suspicious figure". Tismăneanu also referred to Borilă as a "Soviet agent", who, alongside Iosif Chișinevschi, was used by Gheorghiu-Dej to supervise lower-ranking PCR members and enforce a local variant of

(while ensuring close links with Soviet officials). His reelection in the 1954 Politburo after Ana Pauker's fall was seen as a sign of his importance and close relation to Gheorghiu-Dej.Victor Frunză, ''Istoria stalinismului în România'', Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990, p.437; Tismăneanu, ''Gheorghiu-Dej...'', p.12, 14; ''Stalinism...'', p.168 Both he and Valter Roman enforced their commitment to the new leader in 1961, when they publicly claimed that their survival was entirely owed to his victory in the inner-party clash. Shortly before his death, Borilă reportedly authored a letter condemning Ceaușescu, who was by then President, for "nationalism". According to dissident Mircea Răceanu, whose father Grigore Răceanu was a prominent PCR member, the document was known to party officials, but was deliberately not made public. The negative reaction to the Valentin Ceaușescu – Iordana Borilă marriage was believed by commentators to be a reflection of

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

on the part of Nicolae Ceaușescu's wife, Elena Ceaușescu (an ethnic Romanian, she allegedly resented the non-Romanian origins of her in-laws). Such views were rejected by Andrei Lupu, a person close to the Ceaușescus, whose parents were important members of the PCR — Lupu argued that the two families did not get along on account of Petre Borilă's aloofness. On the other hand, Petre Borilă himself is known to have opposed their wedding, probably due to Nicolae Ceaușescu's ideology. In a 2007 interview, Constantin Roguschi, who was employed as an architect by the dictator, claimed that Iordana Borilă was not allowed to set foot in any house owned by Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. The couple eventually divorced in 1988, one year before 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 ...

toppled and executed Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. In the early 1990s, Iordana, together with Daniel Ceaușescu, her son by Valentin, emigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and later on to 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 ...

. Daniel is the former dictator's only grandson (''see Ceaușescu family'').

Notes

References

* Vladimir Tismăneanu,
''Gheorghiu-Dej and the Romanian Workers' Party: From De-Sovietization to the Emergence of National Communism'' (Working Paper No.37)
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., 2002 **''Stalinism pentru eternitate'', Polirom,

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 ...

, 2005 (translation of ''Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism'',

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, 2003, ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Borila, Petre 1906 births 1973 deaths People from Silistra Romanian people of Bulgarian descent Romanian Communist Party politicians Deputy prime ministers of Romania Romanian people of the Spanish Civil War Romanian Comintern people Romanian expatriates in the Soviet Union International Brigades personnel Members of the Great National Assembly Collaborators with the Soviet Union