Ștefan Andrei

Ștefan Andrei
Andrei (left) sitting next to Nicolae Ceaușescu, Leonid Brezhnev and Andrei Gromyko
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania
In office March 8, 1978 – November 11, 1985
President	Nicolae Ceaușescu
Preceded by	George Macovescu
Succeeded by	Ilie Văduva
Personal details
Born	(1931-03-29)March 29, 1931 Podari, Oltenia, Romania
Died	Snagov, Romania
Spouse(s)	Violeta Andrei

Ștefan Andrei (Romanian pronunciation: [ʃteˈfan anˈdrej]; March 29, 1931 – August 31, 2014) was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1978 to 1985. He was arrested after the 1989 overthrow of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime.

Early life

Andrei was born to a very poor family in Oltenia, where the Romanian communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu was also from. While a child he was a shepherd but willing to continue his education; he eventually made his way into the leadership of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party. His doctoral thesis at the university covered the subject of international communist movements and was later used as reference in the central committee. In one of his articles on socialism he had published a few days before an official visit by the General Secretary of the CP of China, Hu Yaobang, he said:

"The socialist character of one country or another cannot be denied; the socialism built in one country cannot be opposed to the socialism of other countries or to the socialism to be constructed in the future."

Andrei was often considered a very literate and benevolent man, a famous book collector enriching his collection from his trips abroad. He was also seen as a good husband and family man. He was married to the Romanian movie actress Violeta Andrei.

Political career

Andrei was first appointed Deputy Chief of the International Section of the Central Committee and encouraged to develop ties with foreign communist governments and movements around the world . Then in April 1972, he became the Secretary for Foreign Relations of the Central Committee and in November 1974, he rose to membership on the Permanent Bureau of the Political Executive Committee of Romania. On March 8, 1978 he was eventually appointed the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As a Minister, Andrei attempted to decrease dependence of Romania on Soviet Union by directing its foreign policy towards developing ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand while also enhancing trade, economic and educational exchange with African countries of Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, Burundi, Sudan and Zaire which also diversified Romania's energy imports. During his years in service to the Ceaușescu regime, he was also a personal advisor to the younger son of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Nicu Ceaușescu. His term as the Minister of Foreign Affairs ended on November 11, 1985 when he was reportedly sacked by the First Lady Elena Ceaușescu who then appointed her protégé, Ilie Văduva to take over. Andrei was subsequently appointed the Secretary of the Central Committee in charge of economic matters.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he was arrested and sentenced by a Romanian Military Court to two years and ten months in prison for supporting the bloody crackdown in 1989. He served at least part of his sentence at the Jilava prison hospital.

Andrei died on August 31, 2014 in Snagov at the age of 83.

See also

• Romanian Communist Party
• Nicolae Ceaușescu
• Foreign relations of Romania