Simion Bughici


Simion Bughici was a Romanian communist politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania.

Life and career

Bughici was born in Iași to a Jewish family of klezmer musicians; his father and two brothers perished during the June 1941 Iași pogrom. He joined the banned Communist Party of Romania in 1933. During World War II, Bughici was imprisoned at Vapniarka concentration camp in Transnistria. He served as an Ambassador of Romania to Soviet Union in 1949–1952. In July 1952, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, replacing Ana Pauker, who was sacked by the communist leadership aided by Joseph Stalin. The appointment of Bughici disassociated Pauker's downfall from the anti-Semitism widely seen in Eastern Europe at the time. Bughici served as minister until October 1955. During his political career, he also served as the Vice Prime Minister of Romania.
Other offices that he held were that of head of Centrocoop, Minister of the Food Industry and vice president of the Communist Party Control Commission .
He was married to Ana Friedman, a history teacher and school principal.