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- 1918-1989. Romanian politician, leader of the
- Romanian Communist Party (RCP), in power
- 1965-89. He pursued a policy line independent
- of and critical of the USSR. He appointed
- family members, including his wife Elena
- Ceausescu, to senior state and party posts,
- and governed in an increasingly repressive
- manner, zealously implementing schemes that
- impoverished the nation. The Ceausescus were
- overthrown in a bloody revolutionary coup Dec
- 1989 and executed. Ceausescu joined the
- underground RCP in 1933 and was imprisoned
- for antifascist activities 1936-38 and
- 1940-44. After World War II he was elected to
- the Grand National Assembly and was soon
- given ministerial posts. He was inducted into
- the party secretariat and Politburo in
- 1954-55. In 1965 Ceausescu became leader of
- the RCP and from 1967 chair of the state
- council. He was elected president in 1974. As
- revolutionary changes rocked E Europe 1989,
- protests in Romania escalated until the
- Ceausescu regime was toppled. Following his
- execution, the full extent of his repressive
- rule and personal extravagance became public.
- In Aug 1989 a report condemning Ceausescu for
- widespread human-rights violations was
- smuggled out of Romania and presented to a
- United Nations human-rights conference.
-