10 Facts About Gheorghe Apostol

Gheorghe Apostol was a Romanian politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party, noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceausescu.

Gheorghe Apostol joined the Party in 1934 and became its link with the railway trade unions and left-leaning groups in Galati.

Gheorghe Apostol was among the most prominent collaborators of Gheorghiu-Dej.

Gheorghe Apostol continued to be the favoured link between the Party and the trade unions.

Gheorghe Apostol joined the Central Committee in 1945 and the Politburo in 1948.

In 1954, Gheorghiu-Dej gave up the first secretaryship of the party to Gheorghe Apostol, while remaining as prime minister.

Ion Gheorghe Maurer rallied the Party leadership around the neutral option represented by Ceausescu, making sure that Apostol did not represent a threat upon Gheorghiu-Dej's death.

Gheorghe Apostol refused to pay the allegiance demanded by the new leader.

In 1988, at the peak of Nicolae Ceausescu's leadership, Gheorghe Apostol returned to Romania and contacted other communist figures of his generation drafting an open letter of protest, directed at the government and made public through the means of both Radio Free Europe and Voice of America.

Gheorghe Apostol expressed his dislike for aspects of post 1989 Romania.