Leonte Răutu

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Leonte Răutu

Leonte Răutu (birth name: Lew Oigenstein ; born February 28, 1910 in Bălți , Bessarabia , † 1993 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian politician of the Romanian Communist Party PCR ( Partidul Comunist Român ), who during the tenure of PCR General Secretary Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was responsible for ideology .

Life

Origin, Communist Underground and Second World War

Răutu, who had his birth name Oigenstein until 1945, was the son of a pharmacist and began studying mathematics at the University of Bucharest after attending school in his native Băli , which he did not, however, finish. During his studies he joined the communist movement and worked in its propaganda department. In the following years he was editor of the party newspaper Scânteia ("The Spark") published by the communist underground movement and worked there with people such as Ștefan Foriș , Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu , Valter Roman , Sorin Toma , Mircea Bălănescu and Tatiana Leapis , who became his first wife, but later left him for Ștefan Foriș.

In the 1930s, Răutu, who also dealt with Russian literature , was arrested several times and settled in the Soviet Union after the occupation of Bessarabia by the Red Army in 1940 . There he became head of the Romanian program of Radio Moscow's foreign broadcasting service and was one of Ana Pauker's protégés alongside Valter Roman and Petre Borilă .

Post-war period and promotion to political leadership positions

After the end of the Second World War , Răutu returned to Romania at the request of Ana Pauker and rose over time to the political leadership of the then Romanian Workers' Party PMR ( Partidul Muncitoresc Român ). First he became deputy head of the Central Committee's department for propaganda and vice-editor-in-chief of the party newspaper Scânteia and thus a representative of Iosif Chișinevschi .

His articles were directed against political opponents such as the National Peasant Party PNT ( Partidul Național Țărănesc ) and its party newspaper Dreptatea (“Justice”). Together with politicians such as Silviu Brucan , Ştefan Voicu , Sorin Toma, Nestor Ignat , Nicolae Moraru , Miron Radu Paraschivescu and Traian Șelmaru , he was one of the most ardent critics of pluralism and a multi-party system . From this circle he also built the ideological apparatus of the PMR.

Răutu, who became a member of the Central Committee of the PMR in 1948, became head of the Central Committee's Department for Culture and Propaganda in the mid-1950s and as such was one of the most influential politicians in the fields of culture and propaganda alongside the General Secretary of the Central Committee Gheorghiu-Dej.

After the death of CPSU General Secretary Josef Stalin on March 5, 1953, he organized a confrontation with decadent critics and poets against the background of the “rethinking of the cultural heritage” (“reconsiderarea moştenirii culturale”).

Candidate in the Politburo of the PCR and chief ideologist under Gheorghiu-Dej

At the Seventh Party Congress of the PMR from December 23 to 28, 1955 , he became a candidate for the PMR Politburo . His only internal party rival was Grigore Preoteasa , who succeeded Iosif Chișinevschi's Central Committee Secretary for ideology in June 1957. After his death in a plane crash at Moscow-Wnukowo Airport , Răutu was finally also head of the Central Committee's department for ideology in November 1957. His deputies and most important employees were Mihail Roller , who had returned from the Soviet Union , Ofelia Manole , Paul Niculescu-Mizil , Nicolae Goldberger , who was a member of the PMR's Politburo in the 1930s, Cornel Onescu and Pavel Țugui , who because of his sympathy for the "Young Guard" ('legionare din tinereţe') was excluded from the PCR.

After the death of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej on March 19, 1965, Răutu was able to maintain his position in top political positions and based this on the friendship of his second wife Natalia Răutu with Elena Ceaușescu , the wife of the new PCR General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu .

Positions during the tenure of Nicolae Ceaușescu

At the Ninth Party Congress of the PCR (July 19 to 24, 1965) Răutu was Central Committee secretary and member of the Executive Committee of the PCR. After he was no longer confirmed as Central Committee Secretary at the Tenth Party Congress of the PCR (October 6 to 12, 1969), he was appointed Vice Prime Minister with responsibility for education in the government of Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Maurer .

He then took over the role of rector of the party college of the PCR ( Academia Ștefan Gheorghiu ) in 1974 and held this position until he had to resign and retire in 1981 after one of his daughters and her husband submitted an application to leave the United States .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leonte Răutu în dizgrație (article from August 22, 1981, eurolibera.org)
personal data
SURNAME Răutu, Leonte
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Oigenstein, Lew (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Romanian politician (PCR)
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Bălți , Bessarabia
DATE OF DEATH 1993
Place of death Bucharest