Leontin Sălăjan

Leontin Sălăjan

Leontin Sălăjan (birth name: Leontin Silaghi ; born June 19, 1913 in Santău , Satu Mare district ; † August 28, 1966 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian army general and politician of the Romanian Workers' Party PMR (Partidul Muncitoresc Român) and from 1965 PCR (Partidul Comunist Român) , who was a candidate for the Politburo of the Central Committee (CC) between 1955 and 1965 and a member of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee from 1965 until his death in 1966.

He was also Minister for Construction from 1949 to 1950 and Minister for the Armed Forces between 1955 and 1966.

Life

Party official and MP

Sălăjan, who belonged to the minority of the Magyars in Romania , attended the craft school after primary school and completed vocational training as a locksmith in the workshop of the state railway company CFR ( Căile Ferate Române ) in Timişoara . In 1939 he joined the then Communist Party PCR (Partidul Comunist din România) as a member and between 1940 and 1943 was a member of the secretariat of the party committee in the Banat region , before becoming first secretary of the party committee in the Satu Mare district in July 1945.

Sălăjan was elected a member of the Central Committee at the National Conference (Conferința Națională) , which took place from October 16 to 22, 1945, and was a member of the Central Committee until his death on August 28, 1966. On November 19, 1946 he became a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Adunarea Deputaților) and represented in this until March 28, 1948 the constituency of Sălaj . In 1948 he became a member of the Grand National Assembly (Marea Adunare Națională) for the first time , where he initially represented the Sălaj constituency until 1952 , then the Arad-Nord constituency between 1952 and 1957, the Oradea-Nord constituency from 1957 to 1961 and most recently between 1961 and his Death in 1966 the constituency of Oradea-Nord No. 1 .

Minister of Construction and Minister of Defense

He held the position of Vice Minister for Health and Social Affairs between April 22, 1948 and September 24, 1949 and subsequently became Minister of Construction on September 24, 1949 (Ministrul Construcțiilor) . He held this ministerial office until March 20, 1950. Sălăjan, who was promoted to major general on March 18, 1950 , became Deputy Minister for the Armed Forces on March 20, 1950, and at the same time, as the successor to Constantin Popescu, also Chief of the General Staff. On October 2, 1951, he was promoted to lieutenant general and between 1951 and 1955 continued to function as chief of the general staff and at the same time as first deputy minister for the armed forces.

On October 4, 1955 Sălăjan succeeded Emil Bodnăraş as Minister for the Armed Forces (Ministrul Forțelor Armate) , while Ion Tutoveanu was his successor as Chief of the General Staff. In 1959 he was also promoted to army general (General de Armată) . He also held the ministerial office until his death and was then replaced by Ioan Ioniță . At the Seventh Party Congress of the PMR from December 23 to 28, 1955 , he became a candidate for the Politburo of the Central Committee and held this position for almost ten years until July 24, 1965.

Sălăjan finally became a member of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee at the Ninth Party Congress of the PCR from July 19 to 24, 1965 and was a member of this body until his death on August 28, 1966.

honors and awards

For his many years of service Salajan has won several awards and received among others in 1949 the Order of Labor Class Three (Ordinul Muncii) , in 1959 the Order of August 23 , First Class (Ordinul August 23) , 1963 the star of the People's Republic of Romania , First Class (Ordinul Steaua Republicii Populare Române) and in 1966 the Order Tudor Vladimirescu First Class (Ordinul Tudor Vladimirescu) .

Web link

• Biography in Consiliul Național pentru Studiera Arhivelor Securității. Membrii CC al PCR 1945-1989. Dicționar , p. 529