Alexandru Ionescu (socialist militant)
| Alexandru Ionescu | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 29, 1862 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died | July 9, 1929 (aged 66) Bucharest, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
Alexandru Ionescu (July 29, 1862 – July 9, 1929) was a Romanian typographer, early labour leader and socialist journalist. A founding member of Romanian Social Democratic Workers' Party (PSDMR), he was part of its leadership throughout its existence, at the same time working for the unionisation of the Romanian workers. One of the few party leaders with actual working-class background, Ionescu opposed collaboration with the bourgeois political parties, and continued to support the existence of a workers' party even after the other leaders of PDSMR decided on the party's dissolution. A founder, along fellow-minded socialists, of the Working-class Romania circle, Ionescu grew estranged from the main socialist grouping due to disagreements over the newly established labour legislation. Joining the government-sanctioned corporations, he supported at times ideas contradictory to his former socialist positions, but ultimately he rejected corporatism as a form of labour organisation. Despite some attempts at collaboration, he would never reintegrate in the mainstream socialist movement.
Alexandru Ionescu was born in Bucharest, in a working-class family. After finishing primary school, he was employed as a compositor at the State Publishing House, then as a student typographer at the Carol Göbl publishing house. Becoming a maker-up, he also worked in the typographic enterprises of the newspapers Curierul financiar and Le people Roumain. In 1880, after four years of apprenticeship, he became a qualified worker, and was employed by the typography of the newspaper L'Indépendance Roumaine.
Around 1883, Alexandru Ionescu was introduced to socialist ideas by the left-wing journalist Constantin Mille. Entering the administration council of the Gutenberg Society, a benefit society reuniting employers and employees in the typographical industry, in 1885, Ionescu supported the collaboration of the association with the Deşteptarea Society, which only comprised workers, even becoming secretary of the latter society. By 1886, he was the editor of the Gutenberg, the organ of the typography workers, and, along Mille, a member of the Bucharest's Circle of Social Studies. His articles, frequently criticising the working conditions in the industry, brought him into conflict with the employers; as a result the Telegraful typography fired him for "inciting workers to rebellion". In November 1887 he was again fired, this time from the State Publishing House, after organising a rally protesting the arrest of socialist activist Anton Bacalbaşa. During the same period, Ionescu was one of the founders of the first workers' cultural association in Romania, the Workers' Circle, sitting as one of its two secretaries. Dissolved by the authorities in 1888 following major strikes, the Circle was reorganised in the second half of 1889, even succeeding to publish a journal, Revolta. Through the activism of Ionescu, Bacalbaşa and Panait Muşoiu, the Circle's membership rose to 300 by the beginning of 1890. This allowed the transformation of the Circle into the Workers Club in February 1890. The Executive Committee of the Club included Ionescu, Mille, Ioan Nădejde, and Muşoiu. The same year he joined the other members of the Committee as an editor at the Munca newspaper, one of the earliest Romanian socialist journals. His articles covered various issues, from social investigations and the electoral system to the abuses of the authorities and the repression of the peasants. In 1892 he was elected vice-president of the Gutenberg association, four years later being promoted to president. During this period he worked towards the creation of a nation-wide trade union of the workers in the typographic domain. Through his efforts, by the end of the 19th century the typographers from Iaşi, Ploieşti, and Craiova became associated with Gutenberg.
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