Chivu Stoica
Chivu Stoica was a leading Romanian Communist politician, who served as President of the Council of Ministers of the Socialist Republic of Romania.
Early life
Stoica was born in Smeeni, Buzău County, the sixth child of a ploughman. At age 12, after 5 years of elementary school, he left home, and started working as an apprentice at Căile Ferate Române, the state railway corporation. In 1921, he moved to Bucharest, where he worked as a boilermaker at the Vulcan, Lemaître, and Malaxa companies. He joined the National Peasants' Party, serving as secretary for the Blue Sector of Bucharest until 1929. At the Malaxa works, he met Gheorghe Vasilichi, who recruited him into the Communist Party in 1931.Career
In spring 1931, Stoica started working for the Grivița Railway Yards, where he met Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Vasile Luca, and Constantin Doncea; together, they started organizing a strike. On 20 August 1934, he was sentenced to 15 years of prison for his role in the Grivița Strike of 1933. He spent time at the Aiud, Doftana, Târgu Ocna, Văcărești, and Caransebeș prisons. In 1935–1936 he was at Ocnele Mari Prison, together with Gheorghiu-Dej. In 1940, his sentence was reduced to 9 years of hard labor. Later, the War Council of the 1st Army Corps pardoned him, but he was interned in the Târgu Jiu camp. At the internment camp, he was close to Gheorghiu-Dej, who may have wanted Stoica to be his successor as General Secretary.He was a member of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party from 1945 to 1975, and a member of the Politburo. He was Prime Minister of Romania between 1955 and 1961 and President of the State Council of Romania from 1965 until 1967.
Stoica was awarded the Order of the Crown of Romania in the rank of Grand Officer, the Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic, 1st class, the, 1st class, the title of Hero of Socialist Labour and the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal, the, 1st class, the, 1st class, and the title of Hero of the Socialist Republic of Romania.