Ștefan Gheorghiu

Who was Ștefan Gheorghiu?

Ştefan Gheorghiu, Romanian trade unionist, was born to a worker in Ploieşti. He entered the socialist movement and became a member of his native city's Club of Workers. After the leaders of the Romanian Social-Democratic Workers' Party entered the National Liberal Party in 1899, he struggled to reorganise the workers' movement. He played an important role in setting up trade unions and was one of the promoters of the General Conference of Trade Unions in 1906. During the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt he was an outspoken defender of the peasants and was arrested as an instigator of opposition. Gheorghiu was a member and leader of the "Working Romania" Socialist Circles and one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party in 1910. He protested against Romania's participation in the Second Balkan War and published the manifesto War against War before dying, aged 35, of tuberculosis in Bucharest's Filaret Hospital.

The Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy was named in his honour in 1946.