Manea Mănescu

Manea Mănescu (9 August 1916 – 27 February 2009) was a Romanian communist politician who served as Prime Minister for five years (27 February 1974 – 29 March 1979) during Nicolae Ceaușescu's Communist regime.

Manea Mănescu
50th Prime Minister of Romania
In office
27 February 1974 – 29 March 1979
PresidentNicolae Ceaușescu
Preceded byIon Gheorghe Maurer
Succeeded byIlie Verdeţ
Vice President of the State Council
In office
1969–1972
PresidentNicolae Ceaușescu
Preceded byConstanţa Crăciun
Succeeded byMiron Constantinescu
In office
1983–1989
PresidentNicolae Ceaușescu
Preceded byIlie Verdeţ
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Chairman of the State Planning Committee
In office
13 October 1972 – 27 February 1974
Prime MinisterIon Gheorghe Maurer
Preceded byMaxim Berghianu
Succeeded byEmil Drăgănescu
Minister of Finance
In office
3 October 1955 – 19 March 1957
Prime MinisterChivu Stoica
Preceded byDumitru Petrescu
Succeeded byAurel Vijoli
Personal details
Born(1916-08-09)9 August 1916
Brăila, Kingdom of Romania
Died27 February 2009(2009-02-27) (aged 92)
Bucharest, Romania
Political partyRomanian Communist Party
Spouse(s)Maria Munteanu
Alma materBucharest Academy of Economic Studies

His father was a Communist Party veteran from Ploiești, who in the early 1920s supported the transformation of the Socialist Party into the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Mănescu joined the PCR in 1938, while he was a student at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.[1] In 1944, after King Michael's Coup, he worked together with Nicolae Ceaușescu, his future brother-in-law, in the Union of Communist Youth. In 1951, Mănescu was appointed as head of the Department of Economics at the University of Bucharest and Director General of the Central Directorate of Statistics.[2] He served as Finance Minister from 1955 until 1957.

In December 1967 he was appointed Chairman of the Economic Council. He was promoted to full membership of the Executive Committee of the PCR in December 1968 and, after holding various positions in the party and government, he became Prime Minister in March 1974, a position he held until 1979, when he retired, reportedly due to ill health.[3] Also in 1974 he became titular member of the Romanian Academy.[4]

Mănescu stayed close to Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena Ceaușescu up until the Romanian Revolution of 1989. He left the Central Committee's building by helicopter together with them on 22 December, though he had to disembark at Snagov due to too much weight in the craft. He was arrested shortly afterward and taken to the airbase at Deveselu, where he was kept in detention until 31 December. Tried in early 1990 together with Emil Bobu, Ion Dincă, and Tudor Postelnicu, Mănescu was sentenced to life in prison for participation in genocide; on appeal, his sentence was reduced to 10 years. He served two years in prison, and was set free on 12 November 1992 due to poor health.[4] Because of his conviction, he was stripped of his membership in the Romanian Academy.[5]

He died in 2009, aged 92,[1] and was buried at Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest.[5]

Family

Mănescu's wife, Maria Munteanu Mănescu, was a well known pediatrician. In December 1973, she was named Vice Chairman of the Romanian Red Cross Society. She was also named a member of the (Romanian) National Council of Women in April 1978. It is not clear if the Mănescus had any children.

References
  1. Vladimir Tismăneanu. "Former Communist Prime Minister Manea Mănescu Died: Unrepentant Stalinist, Dogmatic Marxist Economist". Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. Political background of Manea Mănescu Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Biodata
  4. Laurențiu Ungureanu; Radu Eremia (6 February 2016). "Apostolii Epocii de Aur, episodul #7. Manea Mănescu, ultimul om care i-a sărutat mâna lui Nicolae Ceauşescu". Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. "A murit Manea Mănescu, fost premier al Romaniei comuniste". hotnews.ro (in Romanian). 27 February 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Ion Gheorghe Maurer		 Prime Minister of Romania
1974–1979		 Succeeded by
Ilie Verdeț
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