Alexandru Drăghici
Alexandru Drăghici | |
|---|---|
Drăghici in uniform | |
| Ministrer of Internal Affairs | |
| In office 28 May 1952 – 20 September 1952 | |
| Preceded by | Teohari Georgescu |
| Succeeded by | Pavel Ștefan |
| In office 19 March 1957 – 27 July 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Pavel Ștefan |
| Succeeded by | Cornel Onescu |
| Minister of State Security | |
| In office September 20, 1952 – March 19, 1957 | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | None |
| President of the Grand National Assembly | |
| In office 28 December 1949 – 26 January 1950 | |
| Preceded by | Dumitru Petrescu |
| Succeeded by | Dumitru Petrescu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 27, 1913 |
| Died | December 12, 1993 (aged 80) |
| Party | Romanian Communist Party |
| Spouse | Márta Czikó |
| Signature | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Socialist Republic of Romania |
| Branch/service | Securitate |
| Years of service | 1950–1972 |
| Rank | Colonel general |
| Battles/wars | Romanian anti-communist resistance movement |
Alexandru Drăghici (Romanian pronunciation: [alekˈsandru drəˈɡit͡ʃʲ]; September 27, 1913 – December 12, 1993) was a Romanian communist activist and politician. He was Interior Minister in 1952 and from 1957 to 1965, and State Security Minister from 1952 to 1957. In these capacities, he exercised control over the Securitate secret police during a period of active repression against other Communist Party members, anti-communist resistance members and ordinary citizens.
An industrial worker by profession, Drăghici made his entry into the underground communist movement around the age of twenty. He was arrested for illegal political activity, and spent time in prison before and during World War II. He was close to Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's communist faction, and, as such, rose quickly through the Communist Party ranks. He joined the repressive apparatus shortly before the Romanian communist regime was officially established.
Drăghici was infamous especially for the various campaigns he initiated against selected groups that resisted Marxist-Leninism. He began early on, with purges of the youth movements and teaching staff, joined in the denunciation of Ana Pauker's communist faction, and then focused his attention on the Hungarian-Romanian community. Drăghici is also remembered for his participation in the show trial of Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, his quashing of the "Ioanid Gang", and his clampdown on religious groups—both Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox.
Both Gheorghiu-Dej and Drăghici opposed de-Stalinization, but their talk of national communism and socialist patriotism signaled Romania's emancipation from the Soviet Union. Drăghici still had important assignments after Gheorghiu-Dej's death, but was bitterly opposed to emerging communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu used his influence in the party to incriminate Drăghici of all publicly known Securitate crimes, then deposed him. Drăghici was not brought to justice, but lived in anonymity in the Bucharest area from 1968 to 1989. After the overthrow of communism, he lived his final years in Hungary with his family, despite Romanian efforts to have him extradited. Shortly before his death, a trial held in absentia convicted him of incitement to murder.