Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
| Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party | |
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In office 1944 – 1954 1955 – March 19, 1965 |
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| Preceded by |
Ștefan Foriș (1944) Gheorghe Apostol (1955) |
| Succeeded by |
Gheorghe Apostol (1954) Nicolae Ceaușescu (1965) |
| President of the State Council | |
|
In office March 21, 1961 – March 19, 1965 |
|
| Preceded by |
Ion Gheorghe Maurer (as President of the Presidium of Great National Assembly) |
| Succeeded by | Chivu Stoica |
| Prime Minister of Romania | |
|
In office June 2, 1952 – October 2, 1955 |
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| Preceded by | Petru Groza |
| Succeeded by | Chivu Stoica |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 8, 1901 Bârlad, Romania |
| Died | March 19, 1965 (aged 63) Bucharest, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Political party | Communist Party of Romania |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Alexe |
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈɡe̯orɡe ɡe̯orˈɡi.u deʒ]; November 8, 1901 – March 19, 1965) was the communist leader of Romania from 1947 until his death in 1965.
Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker from Bârlad, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana.
Poverty made him leave school early and start working at the age of 11. Due to his age and lack of professional training, he often changed his job, eventually settling to be an electrician. Working at a factory in Comănești, he joined the workers' union and participated in the 1920 Romanian general strike, during which all the participants were dismissed.
A year later, he was hired as an electrician at the Galați tramway company, where he was also fired for organizing protests against the 9-hour workday and for higher wages. He was later hired by the Romanian Railways workshops in Galați.
As the Great Depression began eroding the already low living standards of the workers, Gheorghiu-Dej began to be more politically active, joining the Communist Party of Romania in 1930. He was assigned to organize agitation in the Romanian Railways workshops in Moldavia.
On August 15, 1931, Gheorghiu was accused of "communist agitation" and punitively moved to Dej, a town in Transylvania, where he continued the union activity. The union presented a petition in February 1932 to the Romanian Railways, demanding better working conditions and higher wages. As a response, the Romanian Railways closed down the Dej and fired all the workers, including Gheorghiu, who was deprived with the right to be hired by any other Railways workshop.
It was during this era that Gheorghiu got his Gheorghiu-Dej moniker by the Siguranța (secret police), who did it to differentiate him from the other union leaders called Gheorghiu. After his dismissal from the Railways workshop, Gheorghiu was very active in organizing the unions and coordinating the workers of Iași, Pașcani and Galați.
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