Petru Groza
20th-century Romanian politician / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Petru Groza (7 December 1884 – 7 January 1958) was a Romanian politician, best known as the first Prime Minister of the Communist Party-dominated government under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Communist regime in Romania, and later as the President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly (nominal head of state of Romania) from 1952 until his death in 1958.
Petru Groza | |
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President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly | |
In office 12 June 1952 – 7 January 1958 | |
Preceded by | Constantin Ion Parhon |
Succeeded by | Ion Gheorghe Maurer |
President of the Council of Ministers | |
In office 6 March 1945 – 2 June 1952 | |
Monarch | Michael I (1945–1947) |
President | Constantin Ion Parhon (1947–1952) |
Deputy | Gheorghe Tătărescu (1945–1947) Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1948–1952) |
Preceded by | Nicolae Rădescu |
Succeeded by | Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej |
Vice President of the Council of Ministers | |
In office 4 November 1944 – 28 February 1945 | |
Monarch | Michael I |
Prime Minister | Constantin Sănătescu Nicolae Rădescu |
Preceded by | Mihai Antonescu |
Succeeded by | Gheorghe Tătărescu |
President of the Ploughmen's Front | |
In office 1933–1953 | |
Succeeded by | Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (party merged with the Romanian Workers' Party) |
Minister of State | |
In office 30 March 1926 – 4 June 1927 | |
Prime Minister | Alexandru Averescu |
Minister of Public Works | |
In office 30 March 1926 – 14 July 1926 | |
Prime Minister | Alexandru Averescu |
Preceded by | Traian Moșoiu |
Succeeded by | Constantin Meissner |
Personal details | |
Born | (1884-12-07)7 December 1884 Bácsi, Hunyad County, Transleithania, Austria-Hungary (now Băcia, Romania) |
Died | 7 January 1958(1958-01-07) (aged 73) Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic |
Nationality | Romanian |
Political party | Romanian National Party (1918–1920) People's Party (1920–1933) Ploughmen's Front (1933–1953) Independent (1953–1958) |
Alma mater | University of Budapest Leipzig University |
Profession | Lawyer |
Signature | |
Groza emerged as a public figure at the end of World War I as a notable member of the Romanian National Party (PNR), preeminent layman of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and then member of the Directory Council of Transylvania. In 1925–26 he served as Minister of State in the cabinet of Marshal Alexandru Averescu. In 1933, Groza founded a left-wing Agrarian organization known as the Ploughmen's Front (Frontul Plugarilor). The left-wing ideas he supported earned him the nickname The Red Bourgeois.[1]
Groza became Premier in 1945 when Nicolae Rădescu, a leading Romanian Army general who assumed power briefly following the conclusion of World War II, was forced to resign by the Soviet Union's deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Andrei Y. Vishinsky.[2] During Groza's tenure, Romania's King, Michael I, was forced to abdicate as the nation officially became a "People's Republic". Although his authority and power as Premier was compromised by his reliance upon the Soviet Union for support, Groza presided over the onset of full-fledged Communist rule in Romania before eventually being succeeded by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej in 1952 and became the President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly until his death in 1958.[2]