Comrade Nicolae Ceauşescu, communist revolutionary and leader of socialist Romania, was martyred alongside his wife and comrade Elena during the U.S.-backed counter-revolution on December 25, 1989.

Long demonized in the West, Ceauşescu was a lifelong communist and anti-fascist militant, who served many years in prison for his revolutionary political activities. The son of poor peasants, he worked in a shoemaker’s shop before World War II. He was first jailed at age 15 for strike support actions.

After a new, socialist-oriented Romania was established in 1947, Ceauşescu served as Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Defense Minister before becoming the party’s general-secretary in 1965 and head of state in 1967. One of his first acts was to change the name of the party from the Romanian Workers’ Party back to the Communist Party of Romania, and declare the country the Socialist Republic of Romania rather than a People’s Republic.