The first Democratic leader in Romania with a division legacy

Ion Iliescu, a figure whose name is linked to the tumultuous birth of modern Romania, died at the age of 95.

A career politician who shaped the transition from the country from communism to democracy, he was both a lighthouse of hope and a deeply divisor in Romanian politics.

His death on August 5 marks the end of a life spent in the heart of some of the most dramatic and controversial moments in Romania.

“To understand iliescu, you must grasp the complexity of the 1990s of Romania,” explains Teodor Tita, political analyst.

“He was neither a simple hero nor a simple villain. He embodied the contradictions of a country which was fighting to reinvent itself while haunting by its past.”

Iliescu took importance in the midst of the chaos of the December 1989 revolution, when decades of the oppressive rule of Nicolae Ceausescu have ended abrupt and violent.

Initially praised as the man who would lead Romania into a new democratic era, the heritage of Iliescu quickly became more complicated.

His leadership led the nation through its first years of democracy and to a possible integration with NATO and the European Union, achievements that many attribute to its stable hand.

However, as Teodor Tita explains: “His presidency was also marked by moments thatick the collective memory of Romania – the abolition of demonstrations in 1990, the violent minerals and its apparent reluctance to break fully with the old communist structures. These events have left a shadow that persists.”

Born on March 3, 1930 in the city of the Danube of Oltenita, Iliescu studied engineering in Moscow, Russia, at the time of Stalin, where he became active in Romanian student political circles.

His time in the Soviet Union would later feed speculation – never proven – that he had links with high -ranking communist personalities, including Mikhail Gorbachev.

After his return to Romania, Iliescu increased quickly within the Communist Party, occupying positions in propaganda and youth policy.

But his reformist tendencies finally made him a target for Ceausescu, which marginalized him from the higher ranks of the party. In the 1980s, Iliescu was out of politics and worked as director of an academic publishing house affiliated with the government.

His re -emergence during the 1989 revolution, which lasted from December 16 to 25 and saw more than 1,000 people killed, was considered an opportunistic, but for others, it was a stabilizing presence in the middle of chaos.

As the leader of the National Front of Salvation (FSN), a political organization that formed during the Revolution, Iliescu became acting president of Romania and supervised the rapid dismantling of the Ceausescu regime.

On Christmas Day, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed by shooting team after a trial in a military base that lasted two hours.

In 1990, he won the first democratic election of Romania in more than 50 years with 85% of the vote. But the campaign was marred by disinformation and propaganda aligned by the state against the liberal rivals.

Later that year, Iliescu faced growing demonstrations by students and opposition supporters. His now infamous appeal so that minors go down to the capital to “restore order” led to days of brutal street violence known as the horriads, during which dozens were injured and several killed.

He served another full mandate after winning the 1992 elections, then returned for a final presidency between 2000 and 2004.

The turbulent years followed the revolution. Deeply rooted and insidious influential figures, dating from the communist era have persisted, and the presidency of Iliescu was marked by generalized corruption.

Critics argue that its reluctance to fully reform the judicial system or to face the legacy of security – the feared secret police – allowed a culture of impunity to take Racine.

More than three decades of the revolution, Romania always fights against political corruption and remains one of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union – a reality that some go back to the reign of Iliescu.

Its last years in power have seen progress on the Western integration of Romania – including membership in NATO and the closing of EU membership talks. There have also been market reforms, allowing small businesses to open up and Romania adopted its first democratic constitution in 1991, which still shapes the country today.

But Iliescu remained obstinate by questions about his role in bloodshed in the early 1990s.

In 2017, he was officially charged with crimes against humanity in relation to the 1989 revolution and the herbalrialds of 1990. The legal proceedings dragged for years without resolution.

After having resigned, Iliescu remained a respected figure within the Social Democratic Party (PSD), ultimately appointed honorary president.

He has greatly withdrew from public life in recent years, but has sometimes published political comments on his personal blog. His last entry, in May 2025, congratulated the president, Nicusor Dan, for his electoral victory.

Ion Iliescu built the democracy of Romania, known as Teodor Tita, but he was “also a ruthless politician who was not afraid to encourage violent conflicts between competing parts of society”.

“As a politician, Iliescu was ruthless, skillful and always with an eye on history.”