Constantin Olteanu

Constantin Olteanu

Constantin Olteanu (born July 5, 1928 in Vulcana-Pandele , Brăneşti , Dâmbovița district ; † April 30 or May 1, 2018 in Târgovişte ) was a Romanian Colonel General of the Armata Română and politician of the Romanian Labor Party ( Partidul Muncitoresc Român - PMR and from 1965 Partidul Comunist Român - PCR), who was a member of the Defense Council of the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1979 to 1985, Minister of Defense between 1980 and 1985, member of the Political Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the PCR from 1984 to 1989 , Lord Mayor between 1986 and 1988 from Bucharest and from November 24th until the Romanian Revolution on December 22nd, 1989 member of the Central Committee Secretariat. In addition to his military-political career, he also wrote numerous specialist books on the history of Romania , in particular on the history of the armed forces and the Communist Party.

Life

Political Officer and Studies

After attending vocational school and training as a plumber in 1943, Olteanu worked for the aircraft manufacturer ICAR (Întreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice Româneşti) and in 1947 joined the Union of Communist Youth UTC (Uniunea Tineretului Comunist) , the party's youth association. In 1949 he joined the armed forces (Armata Română) as a soldier and, after a brief training at the Military Political School No. 1 in Ineu , became a lieutenant in 1949 and became a political officer and propaganda instructor in the command for armored troops and tank troops. In this position, which he exercised until 1953, he was promoted to first lieutenant in 1952 and joined the PMR as a member in 1953.

He was then between August 1953 and 1956 a graduate of the Faculty of Armored Troops, Tanks and Mechanized Troops of the military academy " Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej " and was promoted to captain in 1955 . After he worked as a lecturer at the chair for history of the Military Political Academy between November 1956 and September 1957 and had completed a course at the faculty of history at the party college " Ștefan Gheorghiu ", he was inspector and lecturer at the between October 1957 and October 1960 Political Headquarters of the Armed Forces DSPA (Direcția Superioară Politică a Armatei) and was promoted to major in this period in 1959 .

Olteanu, who had a doctorate in history at the Academy for Sociopolitical Sciences "Ștefan Gheorghiu", was then from October 1960 to August 1964 an employee in the Central Committee Department for Military and Judicial Affairs and between August and December 1964 an instructor at the Supreme Political Council .

After his promotion to lieutenant colonel , Olteanu was first instructor and deputy head in 1964 and finally head of the Department of Control in the Ministry of National Defense in 1967. At the same time he was from December 30, 1964 to April 3, 1979 also an employee of the organization department of the Central Committee of the PCR and between 1965 and 1967 also part-time lecturer at the Academy for Sociopolitical Sciences "Ștefan Gheorghiu". He also served as deputy head until April 1, 1968, and then between April 1, 1968 and May 15, 1973 as head of the Central Committee's department for the control of the work of the Ministry of Defense (Ministerul Forțelor Armate) , the Ministry of the Interior (Ministerul Afacerilor Internal) as well as the judiciary.

Central Committee member, member of the Defense Council and Defense Minister

Thereupon Olteanu, who was promoted to colonel in 1969 , was deputy head of the Central Committee Department for Military and Judicial Affairs on May 15, 1973 and held this position until March 1978. At the eleventh party congress of the PCR from November 24 to 27, 1974 was he was elected candidate for the Central Committee of the PCR and was promoted to major general in 1974 .

In March 1978 he was appointed head of the Central Committee Department for Military and Justice Affairs, which he held until March 26, 1979. Then he was from April 3, 1979 to March 29, 1980 Chief of the General Staff of the Patriotic Guard (Gărzilor Patriotice) and advisor to the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the PCR, Nicolae Ceaușescu . He was also a member of the Defense Council of the Socialist Republic of Romania (Consiliul Apărării al Republicii Socialiste România) from April 3, 1979 to December 16, 1985 and, since September 1979, a member of the Office of the Party Committee of the Central Committee.

Olteanu was elected a member of the PCR Central Committee at the twelfth party conference of the PCR from November 19 to 23, 1979 and was a member of this until December 22, 1989.

On March 29, 1980 he succeeded Ion Coman as Minister of National Defense (Ministru al Apărării Naționale) and held this ministerial office in the governments of Prime Ministers Ilie Verdeț and Constantin Dăscălescu until his replacement by Vasile Milea on December 17, 1985. During During this time he was promoted to Lieutenant General on August 26, 1981 and in 1982 to Colonel General.

Lord Mayor of Bucharest and member of the Central Committee Secretariat

In addition, he was elected at the thirteenth party congress of the PCR from November 19 to 22, 1984 as a member of the Political Executive Committee of the Central Committee and was a member of this body until the fall of Ceaușescu in the course of the Romanian revolution on December 22, 1989.

After leaving the government, Olteanu succeeded Gheorghe Pană as Lord Mayor and President of the Executive Committee of the People's Council of the capital Bucharest on December 16, 1985 . He held these functions until he was replaced by Radu Constantin in June 1988. He was also a member of the State Council of the Socialist Republic of Romania since April 5, 1986.

Olteanu also became a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCR at the fourteenth party congress of the PCR from November 20 to 24, 1989, and also held this position until December 22, 1989.

honors and awards

Olteanu has received several awards for his many years of service and received, among others, the Order of August 23, Second Class (Ordinul August 23) in 1981 and the medal for the 40th anniversary of the Revolution and the social and national, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist liberation (Medalia "A 40-a aniversare a revoluției de eliberare socială și națională, antifascistă și antiimperialistă ”) .

For his book Activitatea PCR în armată în anii 1921–1944 he was awarded the Ștefan Gheorghiu Prize of the Romanian Academy in 1975 .

Publications

• Asalt la redute: Eroi ai războiului pentru independență , 1969
• Patru decenii sub drapel: Generalul Alexandru Cernat , 1971
• 1947: Un an de transformări revoluționare în România , 1972
• Activitatea Partidului Comunist Român în armată: 1921-1944 , 1974
• Masele popular în războiul de independență , 1977
• Asalt la redute: Eroi ai războiului pentru independență , 1977
• Cronica participării armatei române la războiul pentru independență 1877-1878 , 1977
• Contribuții la cercetarea conceptului de putere armată la români , 1979
• Apărarea națională în concepția Partidului Comunist Român , 1982
• Mișcarea muncitorească, socialistă, democratică, activitatea Partidului Comunist Român și apărarea patriei la români: Repere cronologice , 1983
• Concepția politico-militară a tovarășului Nicolae Ceaușescu privind apărarea independenței patriei noastre socialiste , 1983
• Armata română în revoluția din august 1944 , 1984
• Conținutul și trăsăturile doctrinei militare naționale , 1984
• Evolutia structurilor ostășești la români , 1986
• Coaliții politico-militare. Privire istorică , 1996
• Comandamentul armatei române în campania din 1877-1878 , 1998
• România - o voce distinctă în Tratatul de la Varșovia: memorii 1980-1985 , 1999
• File din istoria Bucureştilor. Însemnările unui primar general , 2004
• România și Tratatul de la Varșovia - Istoric. Mărturii. Documents. Cronology , 2005
• “O viață de om. Dialog cu jurnalistul Dan Constantin “ , 2012

Web links

• Biography in Consiliul Național pentru Studiera Arhivelor Securității. Membrii CC al PCR 1945-1989. Dicționar , pp. 439-440