Corneliu Mănescu

Corneliu Mănescu (8 February 1916 – 26 June 2000) was a Romanian diplomat born in Ploiești. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1961 to 1972 and as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 19 September 1967 to 23 September 1968.

Life and political career After completing his secondary studies in Ploiești, Mănescu went on to study law and economics at the University of Bucharest from 1936 to 1940. He joined the Romanian Communist Party in 1936.

While a student, he began writing for leftist publications, mostly about international relations. He was the leader of the Bucharest Communist students' organization until 1940. In 1959 he was named chief of the Higher Political Division of the Army, with the rank of major general.

In 1989, he became the leader of the reformist movement within the Romanian Communist Party. In March 1989, together with five other Communist dignitaries (Gheorghe Apostol, Alexandru Bârlădeanu, Silviu Brucan, Constantin Pîrvulescu, and Grigore Răceanu), he signed the open letter known as Scrisoarea celor șase—"The Letter of the Six". After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he was part of the interim council that administered Romania in 1990 from the overthrow of the Nicolae Ceaușescu government until elections could be held.

Mănescu married Doina Dobrescu in 1950. They had a daughter, Alexandra. He died in a hospital on 26 June 2000 in Bucharest, Romania.