Ion Iliescu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ion Iliescu IO, OCTM, GOKT, OWE, OMRI
Iliescu in 2003
1st & 3rd President of Romania
In office 20 December 2000 – 20 December 2004
Prime Minister	Mugur Isărescu Adrian Năstase
Preceded by	Emil Constantinescu
Succeeded by	Traian Băsescu
In office 26 December 1989 – 29 November 1996
Prime Minister	Petre Roman Theodor Stolojan Nicolae Văcăroiu
Preceded by	Nicolae Ceaușescu (as President of the Socialist Republic of Romania) National Salvation Front Council (interim government)
Succeeded by	Emil Constantinescu
Member of the National Salvation Front Council
In office 22 December 1989 – 13 February 1990
Member of the Senate of Romania
In office 22 November 1996 – 14 December 2008
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 9 June 1990 – 27 September 1990
Co-Founding Leader of the National Salvation Front
In office 22 December 1989 – 7 April 1992 Serving with Petre Roman and Dumitru Mazilu
Succeeded by	Petre Roman
Founding Leader of the Democratic National Salvation Front
In office 7 April 1992 – 11 October 1992
Succeeded by	Oliviu Gherman
President of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania
In office January 1997 – 20 December 2000
Preceded by	Oliviu Gherman
Succeeded by	Adrian Năstase
Positions held during the Communist era Member of the State Council In office 1979–1980 Member of the Great National Assembly In office 1957–1961 In office 1965–1973 In office 1975–1985 Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party In office 1965–1984 Minister of Youth and First Secretary of the Union of Communist Youth In office 11 December 1967 – 17 March 1971 Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Maurer Preceded by Petru Enache (as First Secretary of the Union of Communist Youth) Succeeded by Dan Marțian President of the National Water Council In office 28 August 1979 – 16 March 1984 Prime Minister Ilie Verdeț Constantin Dăscălescu Preceded by Florin Ioan Iorgulescu Succeeded by Ion Badea President of Iași County Council In office 1974–1979 Vice-President of Timiș County Council In office 1971–1974
Personal details
Born	(1930-03-03) 3 March 1930 (age 95) Oltenița, Kingdom of Romania
Political party	Social Democratic Party (2004–present)
Other political affiliations	Romanian Communist Party (1953–1989) National Salvation Front (1989–1992) Democratic National Salvation Front (1992) Independent politician (1992–1996; 2000–2004) Party of Social Democracy in Romania (1996–2000)
Spouse	Nina Iliescu ​ (m. 1951)​
Parents	Alexandru Iliescu [ro] (father) Maria Dumitru Toma (mother)
Alma mater	Bucharest Polytechnic Institute Moscow State University
Known for	Romanian Revolution
Religion	None (atheist)
Signature

Ion Iliescu (born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer. He served as the first and third President of Romania after the country became a democracy. He was president from 1989 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Iliescu was also a senator for the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which he helped create. He is still the honorary president of this party today.

Mr. Iliescu joined the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) in 1953. He became a member of its Central Committee in 1965. After 1971, he was slowly moved away from power by Nicolae Ceaușescu. He played a big part in the Romanian Revolution and became Romania's president in December 1989. In May 1990, he became the first freely elected leader of Romania. After a new constitution was approved, he served two more terms. These were from 1992 to 1996 and from 2000 to 2004. Between these terms, Emil Constantinescu was president, having won against Mr. Iliescu in 1996.

During his presidency in 2004, Romania joined NATO. Later, Mr. Iliescu faced legal investigations regarding events during the 1989 revolution. These investigations looked into how things were handled during that time of big change. In 2020, a judge stopped the case due to issues with the charges. However, the charges were remade, and in 2023, a court decided the trial could begin. Mr. Iliescu is currently the oldest living former Romanian president.

Early Life and Schooling

Ion Iliescu was born on 3 March 1930 in Oltenița, a city in the Kingdom of Romania. His parents were Alexandru Iliescu and Maria Dumitru Toma. His mother, who was from Bulgaria, left him when he was a baby. His father worked on railroads and had communist beliefs. At that time, the Romanian Communist Party was not allowed by the government.

In 1931, his father went to the Soviet Union for a meeting of the Communist Party. He stayed there for four years. When he came back, he was arrested by Romanian authorities. He was in prison from June 1940 to August 1944 and passed away in August 1945. While in the Soviet Union, Alexandru Iliescu divorced and married Marița.

His Education

Mr. Iliescu was raised by his stepmother, Maria Iliescu, and his grandparents. When he was nine, an aunt named Aristița adopted him. She worked as a cook for Ana Pauker. He studied fluid mechanics at the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute. Then, he studied in Moscow at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute. While in Moscow, he was a leader for Romanian students. It is said he met Mikhail Gorbachev there, but Mr. Iliescu has always said this is not true. However, years later, President Nicolae Ceaușescu might have thought they were connected. This is because when Gorbachev visited Romania in July 1989, Mr. Iliescu was sent out of Bucharest to stop any meeting.

After the 1989 Revolution, Mr. Iliescu learned to speak English. He also speaks Russian, French, and some Spanish.

His Marriage

Mr. Iliescu met Elena "Nina" Șerbănescu in 1948. They were both 18-year-old students in Bucharest. They got married on 21 July 1951. The couple did not have any children.

Early Political Career (1944–1989)

Starting in Politics

Campaign poster, 1965

Mr. Iliescu joined the Union of Communist Youth in 1944. He then joined the Communist Party in 1953. From that point, he became a full-time politician. In 1956, he was chosen to be the secretary of the Central Committee of the Union of Communist Youth. In 1965, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party. He also briefly led the Department of Propaganda. In 1967, he became the Minister for Youth-related Issues. In 1972, he was asked to leave this job. This was because Ceaușescu did not fully trust him and thought Mr. Iliescu might try to take his place.

Iliescu in 1976 with Elena Ceaușescu

After this, he was mostly kept away from national politics. However, he kept his seat on the Central Committee of the Party. Ceaușescu could not remove him from it until 1985. This was because he needed most of the Committee to agree. Mr. Iliescu was moved to less important roles. He became vice-president of the Timiș County Council (1972–1974). Later, he was president of the Iași Council (1974–1979). Until 1989, he was in charge of a publishing house called Editura Tehnică. After he was removed from the Central Committee in 1985, the Securitate (secret police) watched him more closely. He was openly against Ceaușescu's rule while on the Committee.

The Romanian Revolution

The Romanian Revolution started as a public uprising in Timișoara. After Ceaușescu was removed from power on 22 December, a new group took charge. This group was called the National Salvation Front (FSN). It was formed by Communist Party members who were against Ceaușescu, and other people who joined the revolt. Mr. Iliescu quickly became known as the leader of this group. This made him the head of the temporary government. He realized the revolution had begun when the secret police stopped following him.

The Ceaușescus were caught and quickly put on trial. They were executed on Christmas Day. Years later, Mr. Iliescu said the trial and execution were "necessary" to stop the chaos in the country.

Iliescu (centre) with FSN members Dumitru Mazilu (left) and Petre Roman (right) on 23 December 1989, one day after the formation of the FSN.

Mr. Iliescu suggested having elections with many political parties. He called this an "original democracy." Many people thought this meant making changes similar to Perestroika in the Soviet Union. It was not seen as a complete removal of the old system. The new government was welcomed by Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet leaders. Also, the first international agreement Romania signed after the revolution was with the Soviet Union.

Mr. Iliescu later talked about trying a "Swedish model" of social democracy. This is a system where the government helps people with things like healthcare and education.

For years, there were rumors that Mr. Iliescu and other high-ranking Party officials had planned to overthrow Ceaușescu. But the events of December 1989 happened faster than any plan. For example, Nicolae Militaru, the first defense minister of the new government, said that Mr. Iliescu and others had planned to capture Ceaușescu in February 1990. However, Mr. Iliescu denied this. He said that Ceaușescu's government, especially the secret police, made it almost impossible to plan a coup in advance.

Presidency (1990–2004)

First Term (1990–1996)

The National Salvation Front (FSN) decided to become a political party. They took part in the 1990 Romanian general election. This was the first free election in Romania in 53 years. Mr. Iliescu was their candidate for president. The FSN won a big victory, getting many seats in both parts of the government. In the presidential election, Mr. Iliescu won easily. He received 85 percent of the votes. This is still the highest number of votes for a free presidential election. He became Romania's first democratically elected head of state. It is the only time since the Fall of Communism that a president was elected in just one round of voting.

Mr. Iliescu and his supporters later left the FSN. They created the Democratic National Salvation Front (FDSN). This party later became the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), and then the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Over time, the FSN stopped being a general government group. It became a political party that faced criticism for using its early power to fight other groups.

Because of events like the Mineriads (protests involving miners), Mr. Iliescu's political views changed. He went from supporting Perestroika to becoming a Western European social democrat. There is debate about how committed he was to these new ideas. This is linked to Romania's unique situation, especially the strong nationalist feelings under Ceaușescu. Critics have said that Romania's change from Communism to social democracy kept some old ways.

Iliescu and U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002

Romania adopted its first post-Communist Constitution in 1991. In 1992, Mr. Iliescu won a second term. He received 61% of the votes in the second round. He immediately stopped being a formal member of his party. The Constitution does not allow the president to be a formal member of a political party while in office.

1996 Presidential Campaign

He ran for president a third time in 1996. But this time, he did not have control over the media. He lost in the second round to Emil Constantinescu. Mr. Constantinescu had been his opponent in the 1992 election. More than 1,000,000 votes were canceled, which led to claims of widespread cheating. Still, Mr. Iliescu accepted his defeat just hours after the polls closed. This made him the only sitting president to lose an election since the end of Communism.

Second Term (2000–2004)

Ion Iliescu with Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004

In the 2000 presidential election, Mr. Iliescu won the first round with 36.4% of the votes. Greater Romania party candidate Corneliu Vadim Tudor came in second with 28.3%. In the final round on 10 December, Mr. Iliescu defeated Tudor with 66.8% of the votes.

He started his third term on 20 December 2000 and finished on 20 December 2004. The center-right parties lost badly in the 2000 elections. This was mainly because people were unhappy with the tough economic changes of the previous four years. There was also political instability and fighting among the many parties. Tudor's extreme views also made most city voters either not vote or choose Mr. Iliescu. The Năstase government, which came to power during Mr. Iliescu's term, continued some of the reforms started by earlier governments. During Mr. Iliescu's second term, Romania joined NATO. It also finished talks to join the European Union. One important action during his second term was setting up the "International Commission for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania." This happened after some diplomatic issues caused by important figures denying the Holocaust. The commission, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, wrote a report on the Holocaust in Romania. Mr. Iliescu accepted this report as an official state document.

After Presidency (2004–Present)

Iliescu with Victor Ponta and Liviu Dragnea, 29 May 2014

In the PSD party elections on 21 April 2005, Mr. Iliescu lost to Mircea Geoană. However, he was elected as the honorary president of the party in 2006. This position does not have official power in the party.

In 2009, he appeared in a scene in the film Medalia de onoare (Medal of Honour).

In April 2019, Mr. Iliescu was admitted to a heart hospital in Bucharest. In September 2023, he was hospitalized again in Bucharest.

On 19 May 2025, Mr. Iliescu congratulated Nicușor Dan. This was after Mr. Dan won against George Simion in the second round of the 2025 Romanian presidential election the day before.

Avangarda Interviews

On 19 June 2025, while he was in the hospital, a series of podcast interviews called Avangarda was released. These interviews were with Ionuț Vulpescu, who used to be his advisor and culture minister. The interviews had been recorded over a few years, up to a few weeks before their release. Mr. Iliescu had planned to release a statement on 6 December 2024 about the 2024 Romanian presidential election. However, he did not because the election was canceled. This was due to accusations of Russian interference after Călin Georgescu won the first round. The statement was published on 19 June 2025, along with the podcast.

Health Updates

On 11 June 2025, Mr. Iliescu was taken to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Bucharest. He was having trouble breathing. By 15 June, his condition was reported as stable. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a medical procedure the next day. On 18 June, his condition worsened, and he had another procedure to help him breathe. On 19 June, his condition was reported to be slightly better.

Legal Investigations

In 2016, a legal case about events during the Romanian Revolution was reopened. This case involved the temporary government led by Mr. Iliescu. In 2015, after 26 years of investigation, authorities had said there was not enough evidence to go to court. But in 2016, the case was ordered to be looked at again. By 2017, military prosecutors said that the events of 1989 were caused by false information spread by Mr. Iliescu's government through TV and radio. This investigation led to questions about whether the conflict of 1989 was a revolution or a coup d'état (a sudden takeover of power).

In April 2018, the General Prosecutor asked for Mr. Iliescu to be put on trial. President Klaus Iohannis approved this request. Mr. Iliescu was accused of actions related to the events during the revolution. These accusations included his role in the Mineriad case. In this case, miners were involved in stopping protests against the government. Earlier charges in 2005 were dropped. But in 2014, the European Court of Human Rights found that Mr. Iliescu's lack of investigation into the Mineriad events went against human rights. In 2015, investigations into the Mineriad protests were reopened. Mr. Iliescu and others were accused of coordinating attacks against people during events in June 1990 in Bucharest. On 13 June 2017, the Prosecutor's Office formally accused Mr. Iliescu for actions taken during the Mineriad protests. The office said that forces from the Interior Ministry, Defence Ministry, and Romanian Intelligence, as well as miners and other workers, were illegally involved in attacks against peaceful residents. The case was stopped in December 2020 because judges found the charges were not valid.

Iliescu at the TVR during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The broadcast was one of the key points of accusation against Iliescu

On 8 April 2019, Mr. Iliescu was officially accused. His lawyer said the case was not valid because it lacked a prosecutor. In December 2019, Mr. Iliescu's trial began to focus on claims that he had purposely spread false information using TV. This was said to be with the help of Aurel Dragoș Munteanu, a member of the FSN and the director of TVR during the 1989 revolution. This meant he was very important in helping the FSN get public support. One claim investigated was Mr. Iliescu's TV broadcast saying that "unknown terrorists" were responsible for the deaths of Elena and Nicolae Ceaușescu.

During the 30th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution, some people who lived through the conflict spoke out. They said Mr. Iliescu's trial was a publicity stunt by President Iohannis. They felt it was to gain popularity from Romanians who still want to know the truth about the revolution. Mr. Iliescu's trial was postponed to February 2020 due to his health and slow legal progress. This case was also rejected in June 2020, as a judge decided the charges were not valid. However, in October 2023, the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided that the trial could begin.

Awards and Honors

• Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic, First Class (1971)
• He received the Azerbaijani Istiglal Order in 2004. This was for his work in developing good relations between Azerbaijan and Romania.
•  Estonia: Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
•  Uruguay: Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (1996)
•  Slovakia: Grand Cross of the Order of the White Double Cross (2002)
•  Croatia: Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav (2003). This was for his great help in promoting friendship and cooperation between Croatia and Romania.
•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Civil Merit (2003)
•  Italy: Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2003)
•  Poland: Order of the White Eagle (2003)
•  Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2004)
•  Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (2004)
•  Romania: Emblema de Onoare al Armatei României ("The Romanian Army's Badge of Honour") (2012)
•  Serbia and Montenegro: Order of the Yugoslav Great Star (2004)

Presidential Election Results

See also

In Spanish: Ion Iliescu para niños