Valentin Ceauşescu
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Valentin Ceauşescu (born 1948), is a Romanian physicist.
He is the adopted son of Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena Ceauşescu. The adoption, in March 1948, was part of the Romanian Workers' Party campaign for party members to adopt war orphans. Unlike other members of the Ceauşescu family, he was not involved in politics and worked as a nuclear physicist at the Institute of Atomic Physics (IFA) in Măgurele, a job which he still holds as of 2006.
Valentin Ceauşescu did his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest. In 1967, he went to pursue his studies in physics at the Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom. On July 3, 1970, he married Iordana (Dana) Borilă, the daughter of communist leader Petre Borilă, but Ceauşescu disagreed with the marriage and Valentin's wife and their child were expelled to Canada. In the 1980s, he was also involved in the managing of the football team FC Steaua Bucureşti, which won the European Cup in 1986.
In December 1989, following the Romanian Revolution, Valentin Ceauşescu was arrested, together with the other members of his family. He was freed nine months later, after no real charges were brought against him. During that time, his collection of 50 paintings by Romanian masters, engravings by Francisco Goya, and hundreds of rare books were confiscated. When he asked for restitution, the Romanian authorities argued that there are no documents which prove that he is the owner, and that the art collection rather belongs to the Romanian state. As a result, Valentin Ceauşescu has sued the government.
[edit] References
- "Ceauşescu's son sues over paintings", BBC, 1 November 2001
- (Romanian) Valentin Ceauşescu încearcă să recupereze averea familiei, acuzând Parchetul General ("Valentin Ceauşescu tries to regain the family fortune accusing the General State's Attorney Office"), Gardianul, 28 October 2005
- "Valentin Ceauşescu's Fortune - Righteous Restitution", Jurnalul, 8 November 2006
