Gheorghe Apostol Romanian politician, in the 1960s. - one of the main rivals of N. Ceausescu in the struggle for power in the party. Date of Birth: 16.05.1913 Country: Romania

Biography of Gheorghe Apostol

Gheorghe Apostol, born on May 16, 1913, was a Romanian politician and a prominent rival of Nicolae Ceausescu in the 1960s in the struggle for power within the party. He started his career as a railway worker and became a member of the Romanian Communist Party (RCP) in 1934. Apostol was a close friend of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and was arrested multiple times, including in 1937 when he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. He later found himself in the Targu Jiu concentration camp.

According to his official biography, in 1944, as the Soviet army approached, Apostol allegedly escaped from the camp with a group of comrades to continue the underground struggle. However, photographs taken in the camp after his release, which were widely published, including in post-revolutionary Romania, clearly show him in the midst of a crowd of liberated prisoners. He was one of the closest associates of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and was part of the so-called "prison faction" that fought against the "Moscow faction" led by Anna Pauker.

In 1953-1954, Apostol served as the Minister of Agriculture, and from 1954-1955, he held the position of the First Secretary of the RCP Central Committee. However, after Nicolae Ceausescu came to power, Apostol became his consistent opponent and critic from the left-wing perspective. Ceausescu sent him into an honorary exile, first as an ambassador to Argentina and then to Brazil.

In 1988, Apostol returned to Romania and, together with a group of prominent Romanian politicians, composed an open letter which was read on March 11, 1989, on Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. The members of Apostol's group held even more left-wing communist views than the criticized Ceausescu, so some of them were seriously concerned about seeking help from "imperialists". As a result, Apostol was placed under house arrest and constantly interrogated. He was released after the 1989 revolution.

Apostol had a negative perception of the revolution and, along with former Prime Minister Ion Verdet, founded the extremely left-wing Socialist Labour Party (which no longer exists).