Gheorghe Pintilie

Gheorghe Pintilie (born Pantelei Bodnarenko, also rendered as Pintilie Bodnarenco, and nicknamed Pantiuşa; 1902 – August 11, 1985) was a Soviet intelligence agent, Russian citizen and naturalised Romanian communist activist of Jewish origin, and the first Director of the Securitate. As such, he was one of the main organizers of the repression in Communist Romania, responsible for the arrest, deportation, and internment of around 400,000 people.

He was born in Tiraspol, Russian Empire (now in Transnistria, Moldova). As an adolescent, he fought with the Red Army in the Russian Civil War. Subsequently, he was recruited by Soviet intelligence to carry out espionage and sabotage actions in Romania. He was caught, and incarcerated at the Doftana and Caransebeş prisons, where he befriended Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who was to become the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) in 1945.

After World War II, Pintilie married Ana Toma, a top aide to Ana Pauker. The couple adopted two children (Radu and Ioana). Between 1945 and 1948, he was the chief of Gospodăria de partid, in control of all property of the PCR.

In June, 1945, he led a squad that kidnapped Ştefan Foriş, the previous General Secretary of the PCR. A year later, after a confidential vote at the top of the party, Pintilie beat Foriş to death with a crowbar.

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