Mihail Florescu

Mihail Florescu (birth name: Iacobi Iancu ; born January 28, 1912 in Roman , Neamț district ; † February 25, 2000 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian politician of the Romanian Workers' Party PMR (Partidul Muncitoresc Român) Romanian Communist Party PCR (Partidul Comunist Român) , who was Minister for the Chemical Industry between 1952 and 1957, 1965 and 1970 to 1980 and Minister for the Petroleum and Chemical Industry from 1957 to 1965.

Life

Studies, Spanish Civil War and resistance fighter in France

Florescu, who came from a Jewish family and was born under the name Iacobi Iancu, attended high school in his native Roman and began studying in 1930 at the Institute of Chemical Industry of the Scientific Faculty of the University of Bucharest , where Gheorghe Gh. Longinescu , Ștefan Minovici , Eugen Angelescu and Negoiță Dănăilă were among his professors. During his studies he was involved from 1930 to 1936 in the Democratic Student Association ASD (Asociației Studenților Democrați) and in 1931 was also president of the General Association of Jewish Students AGSE (Asociație Generale a Studenților Evrei) . He was also a member of the Red Aid (Ajutorul Roşu) between 1932 and 1944 . In 1934 he completed his studies as a chemical engineer and at the same time joined the Romanian Communist Party PCdR (Partidul Comunist din România) founded on May 8, 1921 . In the following years he was an instructor of several communist party cells at the University of Bucharest and in 1937 also a member of the PCdR student office.

In 1937, Florescu volunteered as well as Petre Borilă , Mihai Burcă , Constantin Doncea , Valter Roman , Gheorghe Stoica and Mihai Patriciu as a volunteer of the International Brigades in support of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War . First he was an observer of the Tudor Vladimirescu battery and then between 1938 and 1939 a company commander and commissar of a battalion and at this time also joined the Communist Party of Spain PCE ( Partido Comunista de España ) in 1938 . In 1939 Francisco Franco was captured by the Francoist troops and was in camps in Saint-Cyprien , Gurs and Vernet-les-Bains until October 1943 . During this period between 1939 and 1944 he also belonged to the French Communist Party PCF ( Parti communiste français ) and the leadership of the partisan group Mișcarea muncitorilor Emigranți operating in southern France . He was also political commissar of a partisan group and a member of the general staff of the resistance movement Francs-tireurs et partisans (FTP) in the region of Marseille , Toulon and Nice .

MP and Minister

After the end of World War II and his return to Romania, Florescu wrote two works with Voluntarii (2 volumes Spre Spania and Pe Ebrul însângerat , 1945–1946) and Momente din mișcarea de rezistență franceză (1946), in which he dealt with his experiences in Spanish Civil War and French Resistance. He became a reserve colonel on August 15, 1945 . In 1945 he became head of the Propaganda and Agitation department in the Central Committee (ZK) of the PCdR and had also worked as a publicist since 1946 . In 1946 he also became a member of the Grand National Assembly (Marea Adunare Națională) and was a member of this as a representative of the constituency of Bihor until 1952. After he was head of the Propaganda Department in the Ministry of Defense, he was between November 10, 1947 and August 20, 1948 Secretary General in the Ministry of Art and Information. On August 1, 1948, he was recalled to active military service as a colonel and promoted to major general on December 29, 1948 . As such he was from February 21, 1949 to March 1, 1951 head of the main political administration of the army.

Then Florescu acted between March 1, 1951 and September 26, 1952 as Deputy Minister for Metallurgical and Chemical Industry. On September 26, 1952, he took over the post of Minister for Chemical Industry (Ministrul Industriei Chimice) in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej , which he held until March 19, 1957. At the 7th party congress of the PMR he became a member of the Central Committee (ZK) of the PMR on December 28, 1955 and belonged to it until December 22, 1989. Between March 19, 1957 and August 21, 1965 he held the office of Minister for the Petroleum and Chemical Industry (Ministrul Industriei Petrolului și Chimiei) . In 1961 Florescu was again a member of the Grand National Assembly and was a member of this until 1989. From August 21 to October 25, 1965, he was again Minister for the Chemical Industry.

After leaving the government, Florescu served as head of the Central Committee's Department of Economics from 1967 to January 15, 1968, and then as Vice-President between January 15, 1968 and September 17, 1970, and then since September 17 1970 as a member of the Economic Council. On March 13, 1969, he also became Chairman of the Committee on Industry, Construction and Transportation of the Grand National Assembly. On September 17, 1970, he again took over the post of Minister for Chemical Industry in the fifth Maurer cabinet from Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Maurer , which he held for almost ten years in the following cabinet until April 1, 1980. He was then from April 1, 1980 to January 1, 1990 Vice President of the National Council for Science and Technology with the rank of State Secretary. Since March 27, 1980, he was also a member of the Central Committee Commission for questions of economic cooperation and international cooperation between party and state. In addition, he became a member of the management committee of the Forestry Council on August 13, 1983 and served as Vice-President of the National Council for Science and Education between December 31, 1985 and December 22, 1989. He also became President of the National Council of Engineers and Technicians in August 1987.

honors and awards

Florescu has received several awards for his services, including the Ordinul Steaua Republicii Populare Române ( Star of the People's Republic of Romania ) third class (1948), the Ordinul " Apărarea Patriei " (Order for the Defense of the Fatherland) second class, the Ordinul Steaua Republicii Populare Române First Class (1958), Ordinul Muncii (Order of Labor) Second Class (1949), Ordinul 23 August ( Order 23 August ) Second Class (1959), Ordinul Muncii First Class (1962), Ordinul 23 August First Class (1964), the Ordinul Tudor Vladimirescu ( Order Tudor Vladimirescu ) Second Class (1966), the title Erou al Muncii Socialiste ( Hero of Socialist Labor ) (1971), the Medalia de aur secera si ciocanul ( Golden Medal “Sickle and Hammer " ) (1971) the Ordinul 23 August First Class (1974), the Ordinul" Apărarea Patriei " First Class (1981) and the Ordinul" Apărarea Patriei " First Class (1984).

Publications

Florescu, who on March 1, 1974 became a corresponding member of the Academy of the Socialist Republic of Romania and was also a member of the Chemical Society and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), wrote memoirs about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War in addition to his political activities as well as in the French resistance, but also numerous specialist books on chemistry. The most important publications include:

• Voluntarii (2 volumes: Spre Spania and Pe Ebrul însângerat , 1945–1946)
• Moments din mișcarea de rezistență franceză (1946)
• Avântul industriei chimice (1956)
• Industria chimică și petrolieră în România (2 volumes, 1970)
• The cole of the analytical chemistry in the development of modern chemical industry. Pure and applied chemistry reprint (London, vol. 31, 1971)
• Eficiența economică a cercetării științifice (1972)
• Chimia și valențele ei cu agricultura (1972)
• Materia sau realitatea obiectivă (1972)
• Industria chimică și petrochimică din România (1972)
• Resursele mondiale și limitele lor (1975)
• Dimensiunile cunoașterii (1977)
• Tendințe în dezvoltarea industriei chimce (1977)
• Method științifice în dezvoltarea industriei chimice moderne (1979)
• Matter și mișcare (1980)
• Economia mondială - orizont 2000 (1980)
• Cibernetică automatică și informatică în industria chimică (1980)
• Strategia dezvoltării în chimie (1981)

literature

• Florica Dobre (ed.): Consiliul Național pentru Studiera Arhivelor Securității. Membrii CC al PCR 1945-1989. Dicționary. Editura Enciclopedicã, Bucharest 2004, ISBN 973-45-0486-X , p. 266 f. ( PDF; 12.1 MB ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Florescu represented the following constituencies in the Grand National Assembly: 1961 to 1965 Băicoi , 1965 to 1969 Slatina , 1969 to 1975 Potcoava , 1975 to 1980 Piteşti , 1980 to 1985 Curtea de Argeş and 1985 to 1989 No. 7 Sascut .