Nicolae Ceaușescu Biography

Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician who served as the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party. He became the leader of Romania in 1965 and ruthlessly ruled over the country for more than two decades before he was overthrown and killed in a revolution. Though the initial years of his regime were moderate, he grew increasingly brutal and dictatorial over the years casing great distress to the citizenry who longed for freedom and peace. Under his administration, media freedom was heavily curtailed and there was no tolerance for internal dissent. In fact, the condition of the common people had deteriorated so much that they did not even have access to basic amenities like nutritious food, medicinal facilities, fuel or education. As someone who began his political career as a member of the Romanian Communist youth movement during the early 1930s, Nicolae Ceaușescu rose up through the ranks in Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's Socialist government. When Gheorghiu-Dej died in 1965, he succeeded him as the country’s leader, assuming the position of the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party. His brutal rule gave rise to violent uprisings throughout the country leading to the Romanian Revolution of 1989 which culminated in the execution of Ceaușescu