Ion Rațiu
Ion Rațiu (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon ˈrat͡sju]; 6 June 1917 – 17 January 2000) was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician. In addition, he was the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) in the 1990 Romanian presidential election in which he subsequently finished third, behind the neo-communist Ion Iliescu of the National Salvation Front (FSN) and Radu Câmpeanu of the National Liberal Party (PNL), with only 617,007 votes (or 4.29%).
Ion Rațiu | |
|---|---|
Ion Rațiu, alongside PNȚCD 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 June 6, 1917 Torda, Austria-Hungary (now Turda, Cluj County, Romania) |
| Died | January 17, 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 (PNȚCD) |
| Spouse | Elisabeth-Blanche Pilkington |
| Children | Indrei-Stephen Nicolae-Christopher |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Mircea Rațiu (brother) Indrei Rațiu (son) Nicolae Rațiu (son) Tudor Rațiu (nephew) |
| Residence(s) | London, Turda, and Bucharest |
| Alma mater | 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 PNȚCD and contributing to the reinstating of democracy in Romania after 1989 |
Subsequently, on more than one occasion, he was named by major newspapers and online publications in Romania as "the best president Romania never had". 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 (former leader of the British Conservative Party), former American President Jimmy Carter (of the American Democratic Party) as well as Republican Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (also former presidential candidate on behalf of the Republican Party in the 1996 United States presidential election).
Although he wasn't the winner of the 1990 Romanian presidential election, Ion Rațiu successfully managed to remain in a significant part of the Romanian collective mindset 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, at least reportedly according to one of his books, the 5th and current President of Romania, Klaus Werner Iohannis.