Nicolae Ceausescu
1918 – 1989 Romanian Communist dictator of Romania
Romanian dictator whose grandiose cult ended in a violent revolution.
- Religion
- Atheist within the officially secular state; he tolerated a controlled Orthodox Church while building one of the bloc's most extreme personality cults around himself and his wife.
- Affiliations
- Romanian Communist Party. The Ceausescu cult, styling him the 'Genius of the Carpathians,' functioned as a substitute state religion.
Ceausescu ruled Romania from 1965 with a repressive security state and a lavish personality cult centered on himself and his wife Elena. His austerity policies to repay foreign debt caused severe hardship. Overthrown in the December 1989 revolution, he and Elena were tried and executed.
Connections
- rival of Leonid Brezhnev — Pursued a foreign policy independent of Moscow within the bloc.
In the timeline
- 1989 The Romanian Revolution topples Ceausescu mentioned