Iosif Chișinevschi

Iosif Chișinevschi

Iosif Chișinevschi (birth name: Iosif Roitman ; born December 26, 1905 in Bălți ; † 1962 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian diplomat and politician of the Romanian Communist Party PCR (Partidul Comunist din România) and, since 1948, PMR (Partidul Muncitoresc Român) , who under from 1948 to 1957 a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee and between 1948 and 1954 and again from 1955 to 1957 a member of the Central Committee's Secretariat.

Life

Party official of the PCR, arrests and prison sentences

Chișinevschi was born as Iosif Roitman and came from a Jewish family. He took his family name from his wife Liuba Chișinevschi, also a party functionary and a member of the Central Committee in the 1950s. He attended high school, which he did not graduate. In 1923 he joined the Union of Young Communists UTCdR (Uniunea Tineretului Comunist din România) and in 1928 became a member of the then Communist Party PCR (Partidul Comunist din România) . Because of his political views, he was arrested in 1928 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison, which he served until 1930 like other communist politicians in Doftana prison.

After his release from prison, he graduated from the International Lenin School of the Communist International in Moscow from 1930 to 1933 . Already during this time he became a member of the Central Committee of the PCR in 1931 and a member of the Bucharest City Party Committee in 1931, before he became President of the Regional Committee of the PCR in Iași County after his return to Romania in 1933 . He was then from 1934 to 1938 both President for Organization in the Bucharest City Party Committee and an activist in the agitation and propaganda department of the Central Committee of the PCR. At the same time he was since 1934 also a member of the General Council of the United Trade Unions (Sindicatelor Unite) .

In 1936 Chișinevschi became a member of the Central Committee Secretariat of the PCR and was a member of this until June 1941. At the same time he became head of the Central Committee's Department for Political Education in 1938 and in April 1941 also President for Organization in the Bucharest City Party Committee. In June 1941 he was arrested again and sentenced to 25 years in prison, which he spent until August 23, 1944 in the Caransebeş detention center .

Deputy, member of the Politburo and Central Committee secretary

After his release, he became General Secretary of the National Democratic Front FND (Frontului Național Democrat) , which compiled the lists of candidates for elections. At the National Conference (Conferința Națională) , which took place from October 16 to 22, 1945, Chișinevschi was elected a member of the Central Committee of the PMR and belonged to it until June 25, 1960.

From 1946 to 1948 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Adunarea Deputaților) and represented the Bucharest constituency during this time . At the same time, in January 1947 he became a member of the editorial committee of the daily Scânteia , the central organ of the Communist Party. In 1948 he became a member of the Grand National Assembly (Marea Adunare Națională) for the first time , where he represented the Casa Scânteii constituency until 1957 and then the Iași-Nord constituency between 1957 and 1961 .

He was elected a member of the Politburo at the sixth party congress of the PMR from February 21 to 23, 1948 and was a member of it until July 3, 1957. At the same time, Chişinevschi, who had also been a member of the journalists' union SZP (Sindicatului Ziariştilor Profesionişti) since April 1948 , became responsible for cadres in the Politburo and for the Central Committee's foreign policy department from May 14, 1948.

He also became a member of the PMR Central Committee's secretariat for the first time on October 13, 1948 and held this position as Secretary for Propaganda and Culture until the plenary session of the PMR Central Committee on April 19, 1954. He was also a member of the General Council of the Romanian Society for Relations with the Soviet Union ARLUS (Asociația Romănă pentru Legăturile cu Uniunea Sovietică) . In addition, he belonged to the organization office of the Central Committee of the PMR between January 24, 1950 and May 27, 1952.

Vice Prime Minister and responsibility in the Politburo

On March 17, 1950 he was in the fourth government of Prime Minister Petru Groza Vice-President of the Council of Ministers with responsibility for culture and science and held this position in the subsequent government of Prime Minister Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej until October 3, 1955. He was also since May 29, 1952 in the Politburo responsible for the Central Committee's Propaganda, Foreign Policy, Foreign Cadre and Political Administration departments as well as for the main political administrations in the armed forces ( Armata Română ) .

He was first in the second government Gheorghie-Dej on August 20, 1954 Vice President of the Council and held this position until October 3, 1955. In a further plenary session of the Central Committee of the PMR Chişinevschi was on October 2, 1955 as the successor of Mihai Dalea again Member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee and belonged to it as Central Committee Secretary for Propaganda and Culture until July 3, 1957. As such, he was in the Politburo from October 7 to January 16, 1956, responsible for the Central Committee departments of Propaganda and Agitation, Science and Culture, Cadre, Foreign Relations, Foreign Cadre, Planning, Finance and Trade, and women, but also for the Public Prosecutor General and the Judiciary of the People's Republic of Romania . Subsequently, from January 16, 1956, in the Politburo, he was responsible for the Central Committee's cadres, foreign cadres, women in party work, planning, finances and trade, and the party budget.

Disempowerment and loss of top political positions

The criticism of the First Secretary of the PMR, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej , led to Chișinevschi's disempowerment in 1957

In July 1957 Chișinevschi lost his top political posts in the party and government. He had previously criticized Gheorghiu-Dej at a general assembly of the PMR in March 1956, together with Miron Constantinescu , also a member of the Politburo and Vice Prime Minister . Constantinescu, who advocated liberalization in the style of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev , posed a particular threat to Gheorghiu-Dej because of his good relations with the Moscow leadership. The PMR removed Constantinescu and Chișinevschi in 1957 by denouncing them as Stalinists and accusing them of complicity with Ana Pauker . After that, Gheorghiu-Dej did not have to fear any serious challenge to his leadership role.

After his disempowerment, on July 11, 1957, he was first head of the main economic department in the Ministry of Education and Culture, before he was finally director of the Casa Scânteii polygraphic combine from 1957 until his death in 1962 .

honors and awards

Chișinevschi has received several awards for his longstanding services and received, among other things, the Star of the People's Republic of Romania, First Class (Ordinul Steaua Republicii Populare Române) in 1948 , the Order of Labor First Class (Ordinul Muncii) in 1949, and the Order for the Defense of the Fatherland First Class in 1949 ( Apărarea Patriei ) , in 1949 the Order of Merit for Culture, First Class (Ordinul Meritul Cultural) and, most recently, in 1955 the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (Erou al Muncii Socialiste) .

Web link

• Biography in Consiliul Național pentru Studiera Arhivelor Securității. Membrii CC al PCR 1945-1989. Dicționar , pp. 149-150