Gheorghe Apostol

Romanian Politician. Born in the village of Tudor Vladimirescu, Galati County, Romania, he was a leading member of Romania's Communist Party. He joined the Communist Party in the mid 1930s, before advancing to the inner circles of the ruling Politburo in 1948. From 1954 to 1955 he served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party. He rose to power with other party hardliners, following the Second World War and the defeat of Nazi Germany. He fought unsuccessfully for the party leadership against Nicholae Ceausescu , following the death of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej in 1965. He served as Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil beginning in the early 1970s, before returning home to Romania in 1988. In 1989 he was one of six high level Communist leaders to openly criticize party leader Nicholae Ceausescu, for damaging the nation's economy, and for plans to destroy thousands of villages. Shortly thereafter he was jailed over alleged charges of being a spy for the Soviet Union. He