1989 in Romania

← 1988 1987 1986 1989 in Romania → 1990 1991 1992
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1989 Timeline of Romanian history

This is a list of 1989 events that occurred in Romania.

Incumbents

• President: Nicolae Ceaușescu (until 22 December), Ion Iliescu (starting 22 December)
• Prime Minister: Constantin Dăscălescu (until 28 December), Petre Roman (starting 29 December)

Events

April

• 18 April – The localities of Aninoasa (Hunedoara County), Fundulea (Călărași County), Lehliu Gară (Călărași County), Mioveni (Argeș County) and Valea lui Mihai (Bihor County) are declared cities.

November

• 23 November – During the XIV Congress of the RCP, first shift workers from Timișoara Mechanical Works try to organize a revolt against the communist regime. Their movement is quelled by the Securitate organs.
• 24 November – Despite the events in neighboring countries, Nicolae Ceaușescu is unanimously re-elected as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party.

December

Revolutionaries in an army truck

Bodies of protesters killed by Securitate officers in Cluj-Napoca

• 16 December – The Romanian Revolution begins in Timișoara when rioters break into the Committee Building and cause extensive vandalism. Their attempts to set the buildings on fire are foiled by military units.
• 20 December – A general strike breaks out in all the factories in Timișoara. Timișoara is declared the first city free of communism in Romania.
• 21 December
  • A huge rally in Bucharest turns into chaos as firecrackers explode at the periphery of the gathering. Soldiers, tanks, APCs, USLA officers and Securitate officers dressed in civilian clothes crack on demonstrators, leaving casualties and significant material damage.
  • Peaceful demonstrators in Arad, Brăila, Cluj-Napoca, Constanța, Hunedoara, Sibiu and Timișoara are shot dead by Securitate officers.
• 22 December – After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu, who flees his palace in a helicopter to escape inevitable execution after the palace is invaded by rioters. The Romanian troops, who the day before had followed Ceaușescu's orders to attack the demonstrators, change sides and join the uprising.
• 25 December – Ceaușescu spouses are summarily judged and executed outside the military garrison in Târgoviște.^[1][2]
• 27 December – Petre Roman is appointed Prime Minister of the Government of Romania.
• 28 December – For the first time, after a long break, is held a meeting of the Board of Writers' Union of Romania. Is elected a provisional steering committee, the president being Mircea Dinescu.
• 31 December – The Decree-Law no. 8 of 31 December 1989 issued by NSFC reintroduces the political pluralism in Romania.

Births

• 28 January – Ruby, singer
• 25 March – Andrei Leonte, singer and songwriter
• 12 April – Antonia Iacobescu, singer and model
• 18 May – Alexandru Chipciu, footballer (FC Steaua București)
• 27 May – Doru Bratu, footballer (FC Steaua București)
• 5 June – Roxana Cocoș, Olympic weightlifter
• 10 June – Alexandra Stan, singer
• 28 June – Bogdan Stancu, footballer (Gençlerbirliği S.K.)
• 7 November – Jimmy Dub, singer
• 14 November
  • Raluka, singer
  • Vlad Chiricheș, footballer (Tottenham Hotspur F.C.)
• 22 November – Gabriel Torje, footballer (RCD Espanyol)

Deaths

Nicolae Ceaușescu

Hermann Oberth

• 10 January – Cristea Avram, actor (b. 1931)
• 2 March – Liviu Cornel Babeș, electrician and painter (b. 1942)
• 30 March – Nicolae Steinhardt, writer, publicist and theologian (b. 1912)
• 20 April – Doru Davidovici, aviator and writer (b. 1945)
• 11 July – Horia Macellariu, rear admiral (b. 1894)
• 25 July – Emil Gavriș, folk singer (b. 1915)
• 17 September – Ion D. Sîrbu, author, essayist, playwright, philosopher, publicist and novelist (b. 1919)
• 15 October – Paul Georgescu, literary critic, essayist, journalist, novelist and writer (b. 1923)
• 1 November – Mihaela Runceanu, pop music singer and canto teacher (b. 1955)
• 28 November – Arsenie Boca, hieromonk, theologian and muralist (b. 1910)
• 29 November – Ion Popescu-Gopo, graphic artist and animator (b. 1923)
• 19 December – Alexandru Mitru, author of literature for children and youth (b. 1914)
• 20 December – Ioan Moraru, physician, researcher, member of the Romanian Academy and laureate of the Nobel Prize (b. 1927)
• 22 December – Vasile Milea, politician and army general (b. 1927)
• 25 December
  • Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1965 until the fall of the communist regime (b. 1918)
  • Elena Ceaușescu, Nicolae Ceaușescu's wife (b. 1919)
• 27 December – Horia Căciulescu, comedian (b. 1922)
• 28 December – Hermann Oberth, inventor and pioneer of astronautics (b. 1894)

References

1. "Television shows last hours of the 'anti-Christ'". The Guardian. 27 December 1989.
2. Sînziana Demian (25 December 2009). "In Romania, Ceaușescu's death haunts Christmas". Global Post.