Miron Constantinescu

Miron Constantinescu

Miron Constantinescu (born December 13, 1917 in Chișinău , † July 18, 1974 in Bucharest ) was a Romanian sociologist , university professor and politician of the Romanian Communist Party PMR (Partidul Muncitoresc Român) and from 1965 PCR (Partidul Comunist Român) , who among others between 1945 and 1957 member of the Politburo of the Central Committee (ZK) and from 1952 to 1954 and again between 1972 and 1974 Secretary of the Central Committee. Until the mid-1950s, until his criticism of the First Secretary of the PCR, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, he held several ministerial offices and was at times First Vice Prime Minister. At the end of the 1960s he returned to top political positions and last served as President of the Grand National Assembly from March until his death in July 1974 .

Life

Sociology, Arrest and Journalist

After attending grammar school in Arad, Constantinescu began studying sociology with Professor Dimitrie Gusti at the University of Bucharest , which he graduated in 1938. During his studies he joined the Union of Young Communists UTCdR (Uniunea Tineretului Comunist din România) in 1935 and in 1936 became a member of the then Communist Party PCR (Partidul Comunist din România) . After completing his studies, from 1939 to 1940 he was a researcher at the Institute for Social Sciences and a doctoral candidate at the University of Bucharest. At the same time, in 1939 he began working for the specialist journal Sociologia românească . In 1940 he completed his doctorate with a dissertation entitled Cauzele sociale ale răscoalei lui Horia , which dealt with social uprisings in the city of Horia . In April 1941 Constantanescu was arrested for his political views and sentenced to a ten-year prison term, which he spent until August 1944 in the Caransebeş detention center .

After his release from prison, he was first editor-in-chief in 1944 and then from 1945 to April 1949 director of the daily Scânteia , the central organ of the Communist Party. At the same time he had been secretary of the Bucharest Party Committee since March 1945.

Member of the Politburo, Minister and University Professor

At the National Conference (Conferința Națională) , which took place from October 16 to 22, 1945, Constantinescu was elected a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee and was a member of this until July 3, 1957. At the same time he became a member of the Central Committee of the PCR, to which he belonged until June 25, 1960.

He was from 1946 to 1948 a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Adunarea Deputaților) and represented the constituency of Covurlui during this time . During his membership in parliament he was also President of the Foreign Affairs Committee between 1946 and 1948. He was also between July 15, 1947 and July 2, 1948 Secretary General of the Commission for the Stabilization and Recovery of the Economy and at the same time from December 30, 1947 to April 14, 1948 Undersecretary in the Ministry of Popular Education.

In 1948 he became a member of the Grand National Assembly (Marea Adunare Națională) for the first time , where he represented the Galați-Est constituency until 1957 and then the Clinicile Universitare constituency until 1961 . On April 15, 1948 Constaniscu, who was also a member of the journalists' union SZP (Sindicatului Ziariştilor Profesionişti), was appointed Minister for Mining and Petroleum (Ministrul Minelor şi Petrolului) in the government of Prime Minister Petru Groza and belonged to this until April 23, 1949 At the same time, on April 8, 1948, he had taken over the function of President of the Supreme Commission for State Investments.

In addition, he accepted a professorship at the University of Bucharest in 1948 , where he initially held the chair for dialectical and historical materialism and then from 1950 to 1951 professor for the history of philosophy .

President of the Planning Commission, Central Committee Secretary and Vice-Prime Minister

On April 23, 1949, he took over the role of President of the State Planning Committee (Comitetului de Stat al Planificârii) in the fourth Groza government and held this position in the subsequent governments of Prime Minister Gheorghe Gheorghie-Dej until October 4, 1955. In addition, Constantinescu was from January 24, 1950 to May 25, 1952 a member of the organizational bureau of the Central Committee of the PMR. Furthermore, he was between May 27, 1952 and April 20, 1954 for the first time a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PMR. At the same time he served from August 20, 1954 to October 4, 1955 as Vice President of the Council of Ministers in the Gheorghiu-Dej government.

In the subsequent government of Prime Minister Chivu Stoica , he was First Vice-President of the Council of Ministers from October 4, 1955 to March 28, 1957, and Minister of Education (Ministrul Învǎțǎmântului) between November 24, 1956 and July 16, 1957 . Most recently he acted again as Vice President of the Council of Ministers from March 28 to July 16, 1957.

Disempowerment and temporary loss of top political positions

Criticism of the PMR's First Secretary Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej led to Constantinescu's disempowerment in 1957

In July 1957 Constantinescu lost his top political posts in the party and government. He had previously criticized Gheorghiu-Dej at a plenary meeting of the PMR in March 1956, together with Iosif Chișinevschi , 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, he was first director of the Institute for Economic Research of the Romanian Academy from July 16, 1957 to 1958 and then briefly director of the Institute for Party History, before he was professor of history and economic policy at the University of Bucharest from 1958 to 1962. At the same time he was until March 31, 1962 head of the main department for schools in the Ministry of Education and Culture as well as vice-director of the Institute for Party History.

Constantinescu was then from March 31, 1962 to 1965 department head at the Institute for History " Nicolae Iorga " and at the same time Professor of History at the Institute for Teacher Training in Bucharest. Subsequently, on September 27, 1965, he was appointed Vice Minister for Education and, on January 30, 1969, he also took over a professorship for history at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bucharest.

Return to top political positions, Central Committee Secretary and President of the Grand National Assembly

On August 19, 1969, Constantinescu took over the post of Minister of Education in the fifth government of Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Maurer and held this office until February 28, 1970.

At the tenth party congress of the PCR from October 6 to 12, 1969, Constantinescu became a member of the Central Committee again and remained a member of it until his death on July 18, 1974. He was also a candidate for the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the PCR between March 1970 and his death on July 18, 1974. At the same time he was from 1970 to January 1, 1973 rector of the Academy for Social and Political Sciences, which was named after the politician Ștefan Gheorghiu until October 18, 1972 .

In 1970 Constantinescu was again a member of the Grand National Assembly and again represented the constituency Clinicile Universitare until his death .

Since October 18, 1972 he was also President of the Economic Council and between November 24, 1972 and March 30, 1974 Vice-President of the State Council (Consiliului de Stat) and thus one of the deputies of President Nicolae Ceaușescu .

At the same time, he was again a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCR from November 1972 until his death and, between December 30, 1972 and March 30, 1974, President of the Central Workers' Control Council for Economic and Social Activities (Consiliului Central de Control Muncitoresc al Activitǎții Economice și Sociale) . On March 1, 1974 he was accepted as a member of the Romanian Academy (Academia Română) .

Most recently Constantinescu succeeded Ștefan Voitec as President of the Grand National Assembly on March 30, 1974 . He held the post of parliamentary president until his death almost three and a half months later and was then replaced by Nicolae Giosan .

honors and awards

Constantinescu has received several awards for his longstanding services and received, among other things, the dignity of Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Romania (Coroana României) in 1947, the Star of the People's Republic of Romania First Class (Ordinul Steaua Republicii Populare Române) in 1948 , and in 1949 the Culture Merit Order of the First Class (Ordinul Meritul Cultural) , 1949 the Order of Labor First Class (Ordinul Muncii) , 1949 the Order for the Defense of the Fatherland First Class ( Apărarea Patriei ) and, most recently, the title Hero of Socialist Labor (Erou al Muncii Socialiste) in 1971 as well as the gold medal "sickle and hammer" (Medalia de aur secera și ciocanul) .

Publications

• Cauzele sociale ale rǎscoalei lui Horia , 1940
• Patria și patriotism , 1946
• Drumul lui Leon Blum , 1947
• Acțiunea legii valorii în condițiile regimului de democrație populară , 1953
• Din istoria Transilvaniei , editor, 3 volumes, 1959–1963
• Destrâmarea monarhiei Austro-Hungary. 1900–1918 , editor, 1964
• Brève histoire de la Transylvanie , 1965
• Cercetâri sociologice contemporane , 1966
• Capitalul. De ce critica economiei politice? , 1967
• Sociologia dezvoltârii. Referatul de la Evian , 1968
• Documents și mârturii. 1918 , 1968
• Sociologia generală. Problems, ramuri, orientâri , 1968
• Cercetâri sociologice: 1938–1971 , 1970
• Desăvârșirea statului național unitar român , editor, 1971
• Istoria României. Compendiu , editor, 1971
• Istoria învâțâmântului în România , co-author, 1971

literature

• Konrad Reinhold: The neo-Stalinist Ceausescu dictatorship . GRIN Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-638-54523-5 .

Web links

Commons : Miron Constantinescu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography in Consiliul Național pentru Studiera Arhivelor Securității. Membrii CC al PCR 1945-1989. Dicționar , pp. 175-177
• Literature by and about Miron Constantinescu in the catalog of the German National Library