Ion Iliescu
|
Ion Iliescu IO, OCTM, GOKT, OWE, OMIR |
|
|---|---|
.JPG) |
|
| 2nd and 4th President of Romania | |
|
In office 22 December 1989 – 29 November 1996 Acting to 20 May 1990 |
|
| Preceded by | Nicolae Ceaușescu |
| Succeeded by | Emil Constantinescu |
|
In office 20 December 2000 – 20 December 2004 |
|
| Preceded by | Emil Constantinescu |
| Succeeded by | Traian Băsescu |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
3 March 1930 Oltenița, Călărași, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Political party |
Romanian Communist Party (1953–1989) National Salvation Front (1989–1992) Democratic National Salvation Front (1992–1993) Independent (1993–1996;2000-2004; NSDF/PSDR/PSD membership suspended while president) Social Democratic Party (1996–2000;2004-present) |
| Spouse(s) | Nina Iliescu (m. 1951) |
| Alma mater |
Bucharest Polytechnic Institute Moscow State University |
| Profession | Hydroelectric Engineer |
| Signature |  |
|
Presidential styles of Ion Iliescu |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Reference style | Președintele (President) |
| Spoken style | Președintele (President) |
| Alternative style | Domnia Sa/Excelența Sa (His Excellency) |
Ion Iliescu (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon iliˈesku]; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and statesman, who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996, and from 2000 until 2004. From 1996 to 2000 and from 2004 until his retirement in 2008, Iliescu was a senator for the Social Democratic Party (PSD), whose honorary president he remains.
He joined the Communist Party in 1953 and became a member of its Central Committee in 1965, however beginning with 1971 he was gradually marginalized by Nicolae Ceaușescu. He had a leading role in the Romanian Revolution, becoming the country's president in December 1989. In May 1990, he became Romania's first freely elected head of state. After a new constitution was approved by popular referendum, he served a further two terms as president, from 1992 to 1996, and from 2000 to 2004, separated by the presidency of Emil Constantinescu, who defeated him in 1996.
Iliescu is widely recognized as a predominant figure in the first fifteen years of post-revolution politics. During his terms Romania joined NATO.
Iliescu's father, Alexandru Iliescu, was a railroad worker with Communist views during the period in which the Romanian Communist Party was banned by the authorities. In 1931, he went to the Soviet Union to take part in the Communist Party Congress of Moscow. He remained in the USSR for the next four years and was arrested upon his return. He was imprisoned from June 1940 to August 1944 and died in August 1945. During his time in the Soviet Union, Alexandru Iliescu divorced and married Marița, a chambermaid. Iliescu married Nina Șerbănescu in 1951; they have no children, not by choice but because they could not, as Nina had three miscarriages. Born in Oltenița, Iliescu studied fluid mechanics at the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute and then as a foreign student at the Energy Institute of the Moscow University. During his stay in Moscow, he was the secretary of the "Association of Romanian Students" it is alleged that he knew Mikhail Gorbachev, although Iliescu always denied this. President Nicolae Ceaușescu, however, probably believed a connection between the two existed, since during Gorbachev's visit to Romania in July 1989, Iliescu was sent outside of Bucharest to prevent any contact.
...
Wikipedia