Ceausescu, Nicolae 
1918 - 1989. 
Romanian politician.

Leader of the Romanian Communist Party (RCP), in power 1965-89. He pursued a policy line independent of and critical of the USSR. He appointed family members, including his wife Elena Ceausescu, to senior state and party posts, and governed in an increasingly repressive manner, zealously implementing schemes that impoverished the nation. The Ceausescus were overthrown in a bloody revolutionary coup Dec 1989 and executed. Ceausescu joined the underground RCP in 1933 and was imprisoned for antifascist activities 1936-38 and 1940-44. After World War II he was elected to the Grand National Assembly and was soon given ministerial posts. He was inducted into the party secretariat and Politburo in 1954-55. In 1965 Ceausescu became leader of the RCP and from 1967 chair of the state council. He was elected president in 1974. As revolutionary changes rocked E Europe 1989, protests in Romania escalated until the Ceausescu regime was toppled. After his execution, the full extent of his repressive rule and personal extravagance became public.