Emil Bodnăraș

Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.

Early life Bodnăraș was born in the eastern lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1904. His father has been described as either a Romanian or a Ukrainian, while his mother was German.

According to journalist Laurențiu Ungureanu, while studying law at the University of Iași, in 1924-1925, Bodnăraș briefly joined the far-right National Romanian Fascio and then the National Christian Defense League, led by A. C. Cuza. On the other hand, the official obituary published on his death, it was during his time in Iași that Bodnăraș first came in contact with Marxist groups.

Bodnăraș participated in the 23 August 1944 coup led by King Michael I against the government of Ion Antonescu. He organized underground paramilitary units and coordinated the weakening of a segment of the Moldavian front called "Poarta Iașiului" against the Soviet offensive of August 1944. He was part of a group of communists who took custody of Ion Antonescu after his arrest, and locked him together with Mihai Antonescu in a safe house, before handing them to the Red Army troops. During March 1945 and November 1947 he became secretary-general of the "Council of Ministers"' presidency, being in charge of secret intelligence services. From this position he was one of the orchestrators of the electoral fraud of 1946 and of the Tămădău Affair. During his tenure, a Sovietization of the Romanian Army occurred. Bodnăraș sent several Romanian Communists to Moscow to be trained in a special military school, among them the young Nicolae Ceaușescu, who became a close and zealous collaborator and was appointed general and political commissar of the military forces.

He remained one of Gheorghiu-Dej's supporters until Dej's death, and he resisted the restructurations of the Party proposed by Iosif Chișinevschi and Miron Constantinescu.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Bodnăraș led a body authorized to intervene and open fire in crisis situations. In November, together with Gheorghiu-Dej, he headed up the Romanian delegation visiting Hungary, which held discussions with János Kádár about the support of the suppression of the Hungarian revolution. It seems he also had a key role in influencing Nikita Khrushchev's decision to withdraw the Red Army from Romania in 1958. According to Khrushchev's memoirs, Bodnăraș proposed the withdrawal of the troops at a time which was not in consideration of by the Soviet leaders, while they were expected to stay until the end of the Cold War.

After Gheorghiu-Dej's death in March 1965, Bodnăraș, as one of the most influential members of the Politburo, decided to support Ceaușescu instead of Gheorghe Apostol or Alexandru Drăghici, thus facilitating Ceaușescu's ascension to the position of General Secretary of the Party.

Under Ceaușescu

Bodnăraș transferred his loyalty to Ceaușescu, receiving in exchange the position of vice president of the State Council, and he remained a member of the Communist élite until his death. He died in 1976 in Bucharest and was buried in his native village, Iaslovăț. The town of Milișăuți was renamed Emil Bodnăraș from 7 September 1976 to 20 May 1996.