Ilie Ceaușescu (8 June 1926 – 1 October 2002) was a Romanian army general and communist politician who was Deputy Defence Minister of Communist Romania during the rule of his older brother, Nicolae Ceaușescu.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d0/Ilie_Ceau%C8%99escu.jpeg/220px-Ilie_Ceau%C8%99escu.jpeg)
Ilie's military and political career was helped by Nicolae; between 1980 and 1989, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, and, in 1982-1989, he was Deputy Minister of Defense.
Ilie Ceaușescu was also a historian, and he influenced Nicolae in establishing protochronism as Romania's official historiography and an important part of the national propaganda system.[1] For instance, he claimed that the Romanian people have been always the same since time immemorial, being very little influenced by other people (Romans, Slavs, Mongols) etc.:
It is well known that the Romanian people remained always the same, consolidated, unitary and homogeneous in the hearth it had always occupied.[2]
After the Romanian Revolution and the execution of Nicolae Ceaușescu, in 1990 it was claimed that both Ilie Ceaușescu and Marin Ceaușescu was involved in a series of transactions between the United States and Romania, which consisted of selling Soviet military technology. The deal was worth $40 million, part of which was allegedly deposited in Swiss bank accounts. However, Ilie Ceaușescu rejected that.[3]
After his release he retired from public life, and died 13 years later at the age of 76.[4]
Works edit
English edit
- The entire people's war for the homeland's defence with the Romanians: From times of yore to present days, Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1980
- Transylvania, an ancient Romanian land, Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1983
- 23 August 1944: 200 days spared from World War II, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, 1984
- From the Dacian state to socialist Romania: 2,000 years of statehood, Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1985
- A Turning Point in World War II, East European Monographs, Boulder, 1985 ISBN 0-88033-084-8
- Independence - a fundamental aim of the Romanian people: Traditions, present features, prospects Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1987
- Romanian Military Doctrine, East European Monographs, Boulder, 1988 ISBN 0-88033-135-6
Romanian edit
- Transilvania: Străvechi pamînt românesc, Ed. Militară, Bucharest, 1984 (with Florin Constantiniu and Mihail E. Ionescu)
- Mobilitate socială, Ed. Academiei, Bucharest, 1973
Notes edit
- ^ Verdery, p.218
- ^ Ilie Ceauşescu, in Verdery, p.249
- ^ Weiser, Benjamin (May 6, 1990). "CEAUSESCU FAMILY SOLD SOVIET MILITARY SECRETS TO U.S." The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ "Obituaries; in brief: Ilie Ceausescu", The Globe and Mail, October 4, 2002, p.R15
References edit
- Katherine Verdery, National Ideology under Socialism. Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceaușescu's Romania, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1991 ISBN 0-520-20358-5