Ion Rațiu

Ion Rațiu
Ion Rațiu, alongside PNȚ-CD party colleague Ion Diaconescu behind him, entering the plastic factory in Buzău, Romania (early 1990s)
Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania
In office 1990–2000
Personal details
Born	Ion Augustin Nicolae Rațiu 6 June 1917 Turda, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary
Died	17 January 2000 (aged 82) London, United Kingdom
Resting place	Central Cemetery of Turda
Nationality	Romanian
Political party	National Peasants' Party (PNȚ) Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD)
Spouse(s)	Elisabeth-Blanche Pilkington
Children	Indrei-Stephen and Nicolae-Christopher
Parents	Augustin Rațiu (father) Eugenia Rațiu (mother)
Relatives	Mircea Rațiu (brother) Tudor Rațiu (nephew)
Residence	London, Turda, and Bucharest
Education	St John's College, University of Cambridge (UK) Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
Occupation	Businessman, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, writer, and politician
Known for	Re-founding the historical PNȚ as PNȚ-CD and contributing in re-instating democracy in Romania after 1989

Ion Rațiu (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon ˈrat͡sju]; 6 June 1917–17 January 2000) was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician as well as the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) in the 1990 presidential election in which he ranked third, behind Radu Câmpeanu of the PNL, with only 4.29% of the vote.

Subsequently, on more than one occasion, he was named by major newspapers and online publications in Romania as "the best president Romania never had".^[1][2] During his years spent in exile, Rațiu met and discussed with important political figures of the Western world such as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher or former American President Jimmy Carter.

Although he wasn't the winner of the 1990 Romanian presidential election, Ion Rațiu has remained in the Romanian collective mind as one of the most influential politicians of the 1990s, being admired and publicly revered by generations of subsequent Romanian politicians, some of whom had previously claimed to have even voted for him back in 1990, most notably the 5th and current President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.

Biography[]

Statue of Rațiu at the Rațiu Centre for Democracy in his native Turda, Cluj County, Romania (2010)

Resting place at Turda Cemetery

Early life and academic studies[]

Born in Torda, Torda-Aranyos County, Austria-Hungary (now Turda, Cluj County, Romania), Ion Rațiu was the son of Dr. Augustin Rațiu, and a great-grandson of Dr.  [ro], the leader of the Transylvanian Memorandum. His grandmother. Eugenia Turcu, was the daughter of Romanian activist and journalist Ion Codru-Drăgușanu. He attended school in Turda and Cluj, and in 1938 he earned a law degree from King Ferdinand I University in Cluj.

In 1940, Rațiu was named Counsellor at the Romanian Legation in London, under Minister Viorel V. Tilea. In September 1940, King Carol II fled Romania and this led to the formation of the National Legionary State. As a result, Rațiu resigned from the Foreign Service, and requested political asylum in the United Kingdom. In 1943, Rațiu earned an economics degree from the University of Cambridge. In 1945, Rațiu married Elisabeth Pilkington, the daughter of colonel Guy Pilkington; the couple had two children, Indrei and Nicolae.

Life in exile in the United Kingdom after World War II[]

Rațiu remained in exile in London after the Communist Party (PCR) came to power in Romania in 1947. From the start of World War II, he joined the fight against totalitarianism of any political colour, helping to organize the Central European Student and Youth Society.^{[citation needed]}

In 1961, he started publishing the Free Romanian Press, a weekly news bulletin, in association with FCI, Holland Road, London, directed by another prominent exile, Josef Josten.^[3] He also contributed regularly to the BBC Romanian service,^[4] Radio Free Europe, and Voice of America. In 1957, Rațiu published his critique of Western attitudes towards the Soviet Union and communism, ‘Policy for the West’.

In 1975, the year he published Contemporary Romania, he decided to devote all his energy to the pursuit of a free Romania. He played a key role in the setting up of the World Union of Free Romanians (Uniunea Mondială a Românilor Liberi), of which he was elected president at its first congress in Geneva (1984). Shortly after this, he started publishing The Free Romanian/Românul liber, a monthly newspaper in English and Romanian.

Political activity in post-1989 Romania[]

After he returned to Romania in January 1990, he helped to re-create the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ), serving as its vice-president. Shortly thereafter, he unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1990 election on behalf of the PNȚCD while also being endorsed by the PSDR; subsequently, he was elected as deputy of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Cluj County in both 1990 and 1992, and then Arad, in 1996. He also served as vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies, and ambassador and negotiator for Romania's integration in NATO's structures. In 1991, he re-founded the newspaper Cotidianul.

Paraphrasing Evelyn Beatrice Hall, Ion Rațiu offered in a televised debate in 1990 the most elegant definition of democracy: "I will fight until my last drop of blood so you have the right not to agree with me!"^[5]

After a short illness, Rațiu died in London on 17 January 2000, surrounded by his family. In accordance with his wishes, he was buried in his Transylvanian hometown, Turda.

Electoral history[]

Presidential elections[]

References[]

External links[]

• (in English) Short biography, on the "Rațiu Center for Democracy" website
• (in English) Rațiu Family Foundation Website
• Ghibuțiu, Horia (January 19, 2009). "A fost odată un papion". Evenimentul Zilei (in Romanian). Retrieved March 20, 2021.