Avram Bunaciu

{{Infobox Officeholder

| name = Avram Bunaciu

| image = Avram Bunaciu.jpg

| order =

| office = President of the State Council

| status = {{small|(Acting)}}

| alongside = Ion Gheorghe Maurer and Ștefan Voitec

| term_start = 19 March 1965

| term_end = 24 March 1965

| predecessor = Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej

| successor = Chivu Stoica

| title1 = Minister of Justice of Romania

| primeminister1 = Petru Groza

| term_start1 = 25 February 1948

| term_end1 = 23 September 1949

| predecessor1 = Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu

| successor1 = {{ill|Stelian Nițulescu|ro}}

| primeminister2 = Chivu Stoica

| term_start2 = 31 December 1957

| term_end2 = 23 January 1958

| predecessor2 = Gheorghe Diaconescu

| successor2 = Gheorghe Diaconescu

| office3 = Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania

| primeminister3 = Chivu Stoica

| term_start3 = 23 January 1958

| term_end3 = 20 March 1961

| predecessor3 = Ion Gheorghe Maurer

| successor3 = Corneliu Mănescu

| birth_date = {{birth date|1909|11|11|df=y}}

| birth_place = Gurba, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary

| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|04|28|1909|11|11|df=y}}

| death_place = Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania

| alma_mater = University of Cluj

| party = Romanian Communist Party

| spouse = Noemi Nussbacher

| children = 2

| religion =

| branch =

| serviceyears =

| rank =

| battles =

| occupation = Politician, jurist

}}

Avram Bunaciu ({{IPA|ro|aˈvram buˈnat͡ʃju}}; 11 November 1909 – 28 April 1983) was a Romanian communist politician and jurist who served as the Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs and in March 1965 was for 5 days the acting President of the State Council of Romania.

Early life and political career

Bunaciu was born in 1909 in Gurba, a village not far from Arad, to a Greek-Catholic Romanian peasant family.Liviu Țăranu, Avram Bunaciu. Biografie – reflecții – corespondență, Editura Enciclopedică, București 2012 Some far-right sources have claimed that he was of Jewish origin; however, according to recent research by Romanian historians, this claim has been discredited.{{Cite web|last=Silvesan|first=Marius|date=2011-10-24|title=Lansare de carte: Avram Bunaciu. Biografie – reflecții – corespondență|url=https://istorieevanghelica.ro/2011/10/24/lansare-de-carte-avram-bunaciu-biografie-reflectii-corespondenta/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=istorieevanghelica.ro|language=ro-RO}} During World War I, he and his elder brother were mobilized in the army{{cn|date=January 2023|reason=How could Bunaciu be conscripted in the (Romanian? Austro-Hungarian?) Army if he turned 9 on the day WWI ended?}} and the family lived in poverty.

After graduating from the Samuil Vulcan High School in Beiuș, he studied Law from 1929 to 1933 at the University of Cluj. He was a communist intellectual during World War II and had several high ranking positions after the war, mostly within the Ministry of Justice.{{cite book |title=Will to Freedom: A Perilous Journey Through Fascism and Communism |last1=Balas |first1=Egon |year=2000 |publisher= Syracuse University Press |location= United States |isbn= 0-8156-0603-6 |page= 430 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sV03bFwxm7wC&q=Avram+Bunaciu&pg=PA431 |access-date= 2010-08-17}} Bunaciu was a lawyer by profession and close ally to Ion Gheorghe Maurer, with whom he defended communists at pre-war trials; he was also close to Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who eventually became the President of the State Council and de facto ruler of Romania.{{cite news|url=http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/50-4-49.shtml |title=Significant Changes in Rumanian Government Reshuffle |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=1965-08-28 |access-date=2010-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226110619/http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/50-4-49.shtml |archive-date=2012-02-26 }}

After the war, Bunaciu was one of the main prosecutors of the People's Tribunals. There were two such tribunals in post-war Romania (one in Bucharest and one in Cluj), which were charged with trials of individuals involved in war crimes. From May 30 to June 4, 1945, together with Alexandra Sidorovici, Constantin Vicol, and Ion D. Ioan, he prosecuted in Bucharest a dozen prominent journalists, including Pan M. Vizirescu, {{ill|Pamfil Șeicaru|ro}}, Stelian Popescu, Nichifor Crainic, {{ill|Grigore Manoilescu|ro}}, and Radu Gyr.{{cite web|url=https://www.descopera.ro/istorie/14366342-75-de-ani-de-la-procesul-ziaristilor-fascisti-vinovati-de-dezastrul-tarii-cum-ii-santaja-pe-politicieni-pamfil-seicaru|title=75 de ani de la procesul "ziariștilor fasciști, vinovați de dezastrul țării". Cum îi șantaja pe politicieni Pamfil Șeicaru| first=Mihaela|last=Stoica| website=www.descopera.ro|language=ro|date=May 30, 2020|access-date=December 4, 2020}} Afterwards, Bunaciu was the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Cluj tribunal, which was set up on 22 June 1945 to prosecute war criminals. Bunaciu was involved in prosecuting mainly crimes committed by Hungarian authorities and their collaborators in Northern Transylvania, while the Bucharest tribunal mostly dealt with crimes perpetrated by Romanians under Marshal Ion Antonescu.{{cite web |url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/what_new/data_whats_new/pdf/english/1.12_Trials_of_War_Criminals.pdf |title=Trials of the War Criminals |access-date=2010-08-19|website=www1.yadvashem.org}}

State career

Bunaciu served as the Minister of Justice of Romania from 25 March 1948 until 23 September 1949.{{cite web|url=http://rulers.org/romgov.html|title=Rulers. Ministers of Justice |access-date=2010-08-19| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100827150022/http://rulers.org/romgov.html| archive-date= 27 August 2010 | url-status= live|website=rulers.org}}

In 1952, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs when Ana Pauker was the minister. At the time he also was the chairman of the National Assembly for the Application of Constitution. When Pauker was sacked by the communist leadership aided by Joseph Stalin, Bunaciu left the foreign service and became the rector of the University of Bucharest in 1954. On 13 January 1958 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.{{cite book |title=Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Statesman, 1953–1964|last1=Khrushchev |first1=Nikita|last2=Khrushchev |first2=Sergey|last3=Shriver |first3=George |last4=Shenfield |first4=Stephen |year=2007 |publisher= Pennsylvania State University |location= United States |isbn= 978-0-271-02935-1 |page= 292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nR0f25dmbn0C&q=Avram+Bunaciu&pg=PT302 |access-date= 2010-08-17}} On 20 March 1961, when he left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was elected vice president of the State Council. From 19 March to 24 March 1965, before Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power, he was the acting President of the State Council.{{cite web|url=http://www.wolframalpha.com/entities/government_positions/president_of_the_state_council/lh/90/wn/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918094119/http://www.wolframalpha.com/entities/government_positions/president_of_the_state_council/lh/90/wn/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-18 |title=President of the State Council |access-date=2010-08-19 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Romania.htm |title=Romania statesmen |access-date=2010-08-19| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100804231915/http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Romania.htm| archive-date= 4 August 2010 | url-status= live}} In 1971, he was awarded the {{ill|Order of Tudor Vladimirescu|de|Orden Tudor Vladimirescu}}, 2nd class.{{cite web|url=https://lege5.ro/Gratuit/gu4tqoju/decretul-nr-157-1971-privind-conferirea-unor-ordine-ale-republicii-socialiste-romania|title=Decretul nr. 157/1971 privind conferirea unor ordine ale Republicii Socialiste România|lang=ro|publisher=Buletinul Oficial|volume= 96|date=August 6, 1971|website=lege5.ro|access-date=May 11, 2024}}

Personal life

He married Noemi Nussbacher (at the time, a fellow communist sympathiser) in Cluj in 1938;{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CeTDwAAQBAJ|title=Destine individuale și colective în comunism|author1=Budeancă, Cosmin|author2= Olteanu, Florentin|series= Institutul de Investigare a Crimelor Comunismului și Memoria Exilului Românesc, Memorialul Rezistenței Anticomuniste Țara Făgărașului|date=14 June 2016|isbn=978-973-46-3432-3|publisher=Polirom|location=Iași|oclc=846907712}} the Bunacius had two children, Tudor and Doina, a physicist now living in Switzerland.{{cite web|url=https://www.digi24.ro/special/reportaje/reportaj/dininterior-marele-jaf-comunist-dosarul-patrimoniu-348429|title=Marele jaf comunist. Dosarul "Patrimoniu"|trans-title=The Great Communist Robbery. The "Heritage" Dossier|date=January 18, 2015|work=Digi24|language=ro|access-date=August 6, 2020}} He died in 1983 in Bucharest.