Radu Vasile

Radu Vasile (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈradu vaˈsile]; 10 October, 1942 – 3 July, 2013) was a Romanian politician, historian, and poet.[1]

Radu Vasile
57th Prime Minister of Romania
In office 17 April 1998 – 13 December 1999
President	Emil Constantinescu
Preceded by	Gavril Dejeu (Acting)
Succeeded by	Alexandru Athanasiu (Acting)
Personal details
Born	10 October 1942 Sibiu, Kingdom of Romania
Died	3 July 2013 (aged 70) Bucharest, Romania
Political party	Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (1989–2000) Democratic Party (2000–2007) Democratic Liberal Party (2007–2013)
Alma mater	University of Bucharest Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
Profession	Professor of Economics at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies

Originally a member of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party, Vasile served as the Prime Minister of Romania between April 17, 1998, and December 13, 1999, and was notably confronted with the last Mineriad (February 1999). Between 2000 and 2004, he was a Senator from the Democratic Party (PD). Vasile published poetry under the pen name Radu Mischiu.

Biography

Vasile was born in Sibiu in 1942, and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.[2] In 1967, he graduated from the Faculty of History at the University of Bucharest. For political reasons (his father having been a political prisoner, a lawyer, deceased in 1986), he was barred access to higher education immediately after graduating school.. In 1971 he became a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Economic History at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE). In 1977 he obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from ASE, and in 1978 he became a Lecturer at this institution.

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Vasile was elected (with student support) Vice Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at ASE, a position he held until 1992. After 1990 he took refresher studies in European Integration at Thessaloniki and Munich. In 1994 he became a Professor at ASE.

He died of colon cancer in Bucharest in 2013, and was buried at the city's Bellu Cemetery.[3]

Political activity

He has been a member of National Peasants' Party since January 1990. On the party line, Radu Vasile gradually advanced: head of department (Studies Department), alternate member of BCCC after the National Peasants' Party congress in September 1991, spokesman since 1991, senator from Bacău since 1992, Secretary General after the Congress from 1996. Between 1993 and 1994 he was the director of the newspaper "Dreptatea".

Since 1993 he has been vice-president of the Senate of Romania and vice-president of the Senatorial Budget-Finance Commission (commission for budget, finance, banking and capital market). In the 1996-2000 legislature, Radu Vasile was a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with the Russian Federation and the State of Israel. In the 2000-2004 legislature, Radu Vasile was a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with UNESCO and the Lebanese Republic. Radu Vasile initiated 2 legislative proposals, of which 1 was enacted law.

In terms of foreign policy, Radu Vasile also had an important activity, being a founding member of the Central European Forum, along with Raymond Barre (former Prime Minister of France), Helmut Schmidt (former Chancellor of Germany) and others.

He lectured on Romanian history at the "Doctoral Schools" at the Sorbonne and gave over 50 scientific papers at academic sessions in the country and abroad.

Radu Vasile was a senator in the 1992-1996, 1996-2000 and 2000-2004 legislatures from the Democratic Party; he was a member of the parliamentary friendship groups with Lebanon and UNESCO. As Prime Minister, he was confronted with the Mining of January 1999, solved by the so-called Peace of Cozia. He also published poetry, under the pseudonym Radu Mischiu.

References

1. "Radu Vasile a murit. Fostul premier al Romaniei avea 71 de ani și suferea de cancer". Stirileprotv.ro. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
2. Ghica, Sorin (July 3, 2013). "Cel mai dramatic moment din mandatul de premier al lui Radu Vasile". Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved June 13, 2020.
3. "Fostul premier Radu Vasile a fost înmormântat cu onoruri militare, la…", archive.is, 7 July 2013, retrieved 7 July 2013

External links

• "Radu Vasile Sinteza activității parlamentare în legislatură 2000-2004" (in Romanian). Retrieved June 13, 2020.