Ion Iliescu is a Romanian politician who served as President of the Republic of Romania from 1989 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2004. During his long political career, he was a senator for the Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2004 until his retirement in 2008. Iliescu’s interest in politics began while he was a child, as the son of a guy who had communist ideals. He attended the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute before enrolling as a foreign student at Moscow University’s Energy Institute. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1953 and has since played an important role in Romanian politics. By 1965, he was a member of the Romanian Communist Party’s Central Committee. He was once a protégé of Nicolae Ceaușescu, a powerful politician, but he was gradually marginalized by his former master, who saw Iliescu’s developing prominence as a threat. He fought President Ceaușescu’s authoritarian government and was a key figure in the Romanian Revolution, which saw Ceaușescu deposed and executed. Ion Iliescu was then elected President of Romania, becoming the country’s first freely elected leader.
Childhood and Adolescence
Alexandru Iliescu gave birth to Ion Iliescu on March 3, 1930 in Oltenița, Călărași, Romania. When Ion was a tiny child, his father, a railroad worker with Communist sympathies, traveled to the Soviet Union to attend the Communist Party Congress in Moscow. Upon his return, he was arrested.
He went to Spiru Haret High School, Industrial Polizu High School, and Sfantul Sava High School. In 1944, he joined the Union of Communist Youth, carrying on his father’s communist zeal.
Iliescu studied fluid mechanics at the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute before being admitted as a foreign student at Moscow University’s Energy Institute.
Career of Ion Iliescu
In 1955, he started working as a designer engineer at Bucharest’s Energy Engineering Institute. During this time, he was also politically active, having joined the Communist Party in 1953. In 1956, he formed the Romanian Union of College Students’ Associations.
He was a protégé of Nicolae Ceaușescu, a powerful communist politician who benefited immensely when Ceaușescu was named party general secretary in 1965. In the same year, Iliescu was elected to the Romanian Communist Party’s Central Committee.
He rose through the ranks of the Romanian Communist Party in the years that followed, eventually becoming the head of the Central Committee’s Department of Propaganda. He was the Minister for Youth-Related Issues from 1967 until 1971.
Ceaușescu, on the other hand, became concerned about Iliescu’s growing political power. Ceaușescu began marginalizing Iliescu, who was now seen as his heir apparent, in 1971.
Ceaușescu was elected President of Romania in 1974. Iliescu was elected head of the Iași Council during this time. By this time, Iliescu had lost favor with Ceaușescu, who had stripped him of all key responsibilities. In 1984, Iliescu was removed from the Central Committee for criticizing the president’s increasingly harsh rule.
The late 1980s were a turbulent time in Romanian history. Iliescu was a key figure in the Romanian Revolution, which began in 1989. Ceaușescu’s administration was overthrown by a violent revolution, and he was captured and executed as a result.
Following the revolution, the National Salvation Front (FSN) was created, which later became Romania’s ruling body. On December 22, 1989, Iliescu was appointed as the organization’s head and acting President of Romania. After winning the 1990 election, he became Romania’s first freely elected president the next year.
In 1991, a new constitution was drafted, and he was re-elected president the following year. In 1992, Iliescu and a number of other FSN members formed the Democratic National Salvation Front (FDSN), which later became the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
Despite receiving widespread support as a revolutionary at the start of his administration, his popularity began to decline as he failed to create an environment of economic and political stability. He was defeated in the 1996 elections.
‘Revolution and Reform’ (1993), ‘The Revolution as I Lived It’ (1995), ‘Moments of History’ (1996), ‘Political Life Between Violence and Dialogue’ (1998), and ‘Whereto, Romanian Society?’ were among his many publications published throughout the 1990s (1999).
In the presidential election of 2000, he ran again and defeated Corneliu Vadim Tudor. He was able to get Romania into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during his second term. His presidency came to an end on December 20, 2004.
Several scandals dogged his presidency, including suspicions of ties to the KGB, the Soviet Union’s main security organization from 1954 until its disintegration in 1991. He was also chastised for pardoning a number of offenders who had been convicted of corruption or other financial offences.
Major Projects of Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu was a key figure in the Romanian Revolution, which saw the last Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu put on trial and executed, ending 42 years of Communist control in Romania. When a new government was constituted after the revolution, he became the acting president of the country.
Achievements and Awards
He was awarded the Order “The Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic First Class” in 1971.
He was awarded the Croatian honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav in 2003 for his “excellent contribution to the promotion of friendship and development cooperation between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Romania.”
Personal History and Legacy
In 1951, Ion Iliescu married Nina Erbănescu. There are no children in the family.
Estimated Net Worth
Ion Iliescu is one of the wealthiest engineers and one of the most popular. Ion Iliescu’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.