Ștefan Voitec
Romanian journalist and politician / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ștefan Voitec (also rendered Ștefan Voitech,[1] Stepan Voitek;[2] June 19, 1900 – December 4, 1984) was a Romanian Marxist journalist and politician who held important positions in the state apparatus of Communist Romania. Debuting as a member of the Socialist Party of Romania in his late teens, he formed the Socialist Workers Party of Romania, then the United Socialist Party, while also engaging in human rights activism and advocating prison reform. The mid-1930s brought him into contact with the Romanian Communist Party, with whom he formed tactical alliances; however, he rejected its political line, and was for a while known as a Trotskyist. In 1939, he joined the consolidated Social Democratic Party, which reunited various socialist groups outlawed by the National Renaissance Front. During World War II, despite ostensibly withdrawing form political life to do research, Voitec served as the party's Secretary and joined the anti-fascist underground. Some reports suggest that he was also a committed anti-communist, critical of the Soviet Union to the point on endorsing war in the East. As a war correspondent, Voitec made contributions to Nazi propaganda, an issue which made him vulnerable to blackmail in later decades.
Ștefan Voitec | |
---|---|
Member of the Provisional Presidium of the Republic | |
In office 30 December 1947 – 14 April 1948 | |
Preceded by | Michael I (as King of Romania) |
Succeeded by | Constantin Ion Parhon (as President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly) |
President of the State Council | |
(Acting) | |
In office 19 March 1965 – 24 March 1965 | |
Preceded by | Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej |
Succeeded by | Chivu Stoica |
President of the Great National Assembly | |
In office 20 March 1961 – 28 March 1974 | |
Preceded by | Constantin Pârvulescu |
Succeeded by | Miron Constantinescu |
Constituency | Electroputere |
Vice President of the State Council | |
In office 1974–1984 | |
President | Nicolae Ceaușescu |
Preceded by | Miron Constantinescu |
Succeeded by | Maria Ghițulică |
In office 1961–1965 | |
President | Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Constanța Crăciun |
Minister of Industry | |
In office 20 March 1957 – 27 April 1959 | |
Prime Minister | Chivu Stoica |
Succeeded by | Alexandru Sencovici |
Minister of National Education | |
In office 5 November 1944 – 29 December 1947 | |
Prime Minister | Constantin Sănătescu Nicolae Rădescu Petru Groza |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Lothar Rădăceanu |
Minister of Internal Trade | |
In office 5 October 1955 – 24 November 1956 | |
Prime Minister | Chivu Stoica |
Preceded by | Mircea Oprișan |
Succeeded by | Marcel Popescu |
Personal details | |
Born | (1900-06-19)June 19, 1900 Corabia, Romanați County, Kingdom of Romania |
Died | December 4, 1984(1984-12-04) (aged 84) Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania |
Political party | Social Democratic Party of Romania Romanian Communist Party |
Other political affiliations | Socialist Party of Romania Federation of Socialist Parties Socialist Workers Party of Romania United Socialist Party |
Spouse | Victoria Voitec |
Alma mater | University of Bucharest (School of Polytechnics) |
Occupation | Journalist, schoolteacher, researcher |
From June 1944, Voitec played a part in plotting the Anti-fascist Coup, negotiating a unified platform with communist Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu. Following this regime change, he emerged as a leader of the legalized Social Democrats. In November, he became Minister of Education, serving under increasingly communized governments to December 1947. Himself won over by Marxism-Leninism, Voitec directed a purge of the teaching staff, and engineered his party's alliance with, then absorption by, the Communist Party. Voitec was a member of the unified group's Politburo, and represented Dolj County, then Electroputere factory, in the Great National Assembly; he also served as member of the first republican presidium in 1948, and was briefly the Deputy Prime Minister to Petru Groza. Criticized for his leniency and inconsistencies in applying party dogma, he was sidelined and placed under Securitate surveillance in the early 1950s.
After serving as head of Centrocoop, which grouped Romania's consumers' cooperatives, Voitec returned to the forefront in 1955–1956, when he was reappointed minister, then Deputy Premier. In 1961, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej also included him on the State Council, as Assembly Chairman. As such, Voitec sanctioned the rise of Nicolae Ceaușescu, participating in his investiture as the first President of Romania (1974). Though his offices were by then largely ceremonial, he used his position to demand privileges for other former Social Democrats, and also obtained reconsideration for Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea, the Romanian Marxist classic. Shortly before dying of cancer in 1984, Voitec reportedly expressed regret for his communist conversion, which led to his second marginalization by Ceaușescu. He is remembered for his contributions to cultural development, responsible in large part for the establishment of Craiova University, the National Theater Craiova, and Magazin Istoric journal.