Avram Bunaciu

Avram Bunaciu (Romanian pronunciation: [aˈvram buˈnat͡ʃju]; 11 November 1909 – 28 April 1983) was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs and was the acting President of the State Council of Romania.

Avram Bunaciu
President of the State Council
(Acting)
In office
19 March 1965 – 24 March 1965
Preceded byGheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Succeeded byChivu Stoica
Minister of Justice of Romania
In office
25 February 1947 – 23 September 1949
Prime MinisterPetru Groza
Preceded byLucrețiu Pătrășcanu
Succeeded byStelian Nițulescu
In office
31 December 1957 – 23 January 1958
Prime MinisterChivu Stoica
Preceded byGheorghe Diaconescu
Succeeded byGheorghe Diaconescu
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania
In office
23 January 1958 – 20 March 1961
Prime MinisterChivu Stoica
Preceded byIon Gheorghe Maurer
Succeeded byCorneliu Mănescu
Personal details
Born(1909-11-11)November 11, 1909 (born Abraham Gutman)
Gurba, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary
Died28 April 1983 (1983-04-29) (aged 73)
Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania

Early life

Bunaciu was born in Transylvania to a Jewish family. He was a communist intellectual during World War II and had several high ranking positions after the war, mostly within the Ministry of Justice.[1] Bunaciu was a lawyer by profession and close ally to Ion Gheorghe Maurer with whom he defended communists at pre-war trials and was also close to Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej who eventually became the President of Romania.[2] After the war, Bunaciu was the Chief Public Prosecutor at Cluj tribunal which was set up on 22 June 1945 to prosecute war criminals. There were two tribunals in the post-war Romania (one in Bucharest and one in Cluj) which were charged with trials of individuals involved in war crimes. Bunaciu was involved in prosecuting mainly crimes committed by Hungarian authorities and their collaborators in Northern Transylvania while the Bucharest tribunal mostly dealt with crimes perpetrated by Romanians under Marshal Antonescu.[3]

Political career

Bunaciu served as the Minister of Justice of Romania from 25 March 1948 until 23 September 1949.[4] In 1952, Bunaciu was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs when Ana Pauker was the minister.[2] At the time he also was the Chairman of the National Assembly for the Application of Constitution.[1] When Pauker was sacked by the communist leadership aided by Joseph Stalin, Bunaciu left the foreign service and became the rector of the Bucharest University in 1954.[2] On 13 January 1958 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.[5] On 20 March 1961, when he left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was elected the Vice President of the State Council.[2] From 19 March to 24 March 1965, before Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power, he was the acting President of State Council.[6][7]

See also

References
  1. Balas, Egon (2000). Will to Freedom: A Perilous Journey Through Fascism and Communism. United States: Syracure University. p. 430. ISBN 0-8156-0603-6. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  2. "SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN RUMANIAN GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE". RL/RFE. 1965-08-28. Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  3. "TRIALS OF THE WAR CRIMINALS" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  4. "Rulers. Ministers of Justice". Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  5. Khrushchev, Nikita; Khrushchev, Sergey; Shriver, George; Shenfield, Stephen (2007). Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Statesman, 1953-1964. United States: Pennsylvania State University. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-271-02935-1. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  6. "President of the State Council". Archived from the original on 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  7. "Romania statesmen". Archived from the original on 4 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
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