Ion Vincze

Ion Vincze (born Vincze János and also called Ion or Ioan Vințe; 1 September 1910 – 1996) was a Romanian communist politician and diplomat. An activist of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), he was married to Constanța Crăciun, herself a prominent member of the party.

Biography Born to an ethnic Hungarian family in Lipova, Arad County (then Lippa, Austria-Hungary), he became a member of the Union of Communist Youth in 1930 and of the then-outlawed PCR the following year. An accountant by profession, he attended Școala Superioară de Comerț and Academia Comercială din Cluj.

On 19 November 1942, a military tribunal in the city condemned him to hard labour for life, having found that "He was part of the central leadership of the Communist Party of Romania, being tasked with the indoctrination of the capital's young people. He was ordered by the party to procure false identity cards for members of the Communist Party who were to remain in Romania clandestinely. He took part in conspiratorial sessions. He recruited and instructed new members of the communist movement. He received and spread communist propaganda materials and gave instructions regarding the organisation of a Communist Youth of Romania. He refused to declare to us his place of residence, which indicates that in that place there was to be found an important stock of materials, instructions, and names of important persons who form part of the leadership of the Communist Movement." According to politician Gyárfás Kurkó, Vincze and Luca secretly oversaw the absorption of smaller Hungarian groups into the new Hungarian People's Union, a mass organisation which was to function as a close associate of the PMR. On 5 October 1945, he and Luca, together with other communist activists, attended a meeting with representatives of various PCR affiliates, including representatives of the Jewish community. On this occasion, various party activists issued verbal attacks against the main Jewish anti-communist currents — the moderates led by Wilhelm Filderman and the Zionists represented by A. L. Zissu. One of his fellow representatives for Arad County was the prominent PCR member Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu.

He became deputy minister at the Ministry of Internal Affairs after 28 May 1952, under Premiers Groza and Gheorghiu-Dej. This came in the wake of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, after criticism of Gheorghiu-Dej had been voiced at home (notably, by Miron Constantinescu and Iosif Chișinevschi). During that period, Coliu, Vincze, Petre Borilă and Gheorghe Stoica ordered the Securitate to carry out arrests and organise repressive actions. Alongside Gheorghe Apostol, Constantin Pîrvulescu, Moghioroș and Borilă, Vincze was Gheorghiu-Dej's emissary during renewed discussions with Pauker, when they attempted to make her admit that she was guilty of "deviationism".

In 1968, when the new leadership around Nicolae Ceaușescu offered concessions to ethnic Hungarian intellectuals, it created a Council of Working People of Magyar Nationality, of which Vincze was named vice-president. Upon selection, he reportedly announced to the community that he was "returning to the womb".

Vincze was also vice-president of the Central Party College from 24 July 1965 to 12 August 1969 and a member of the National Council of Romanian Radio and Television from 8 March 1971. He died in Bucharest.