(b. 7 December 1884, Băcia, Hunedoara, d. 7 January 1958, Bucharest)
Image description
We are shown a somber man, well over 40, with a receding hairline, bushy eyebrows, curved and long nose, sharp cheekbones and bony jaw line. He is wearing a suit.
The top of the head is highlighted by a thin strand of hair combed on one side and depicted by a compact and crowded texture. On the sides the hair is shaved and is highlighted by small X’s.
The wavy texture represents the classic jacket which is worn over the shirt. The shirt itself is depicted by a texture made out of embossed diamonds.
He wears a tie highlighted by circles.
Historical information
Petru Groza, the son of orthodox priest Adam Groza, was born on 7 December 1884 în Băcia, Hunedoara [Bibliography 1]. After graduating primary school in his hometown he went on to study in Coșteiu, Lugoj and then he moved to Orăștie to study at the Calvinist high school there.
Between 1903 and 1905 he studied law at the University of Budapest, obtaining, in 1907, a PhD in legal sciences [Bibliography 2]. In 1907 he returns to Transylvania and starts working as a lawyer first in Lugoj then in Deva. In November 1919 he was elected as a member of the Romanian National Party (PNR) in the first Parliament of Greater Romania. Shortly after, he leaves this party to join the political party founded by Alexandru Averescu, becoming a member of the People’s Party on the 17th of April 1920. He is elected twice as a deputy of this party and, on the 16th of April 1921 he is named state minister without portfolio in the Alexandru Averescu government.
After a self imposed exile in Deva, Petru Groza returns to the political scene on 8 January 1933 when he founds a peasant-based political organization, the Ploughmen’s Front, which, during the inter-war period was a left-wing agrarian inspired political organization [Bibiliography 3]. In 1943 he gets involved in the foundation of the Anti-Hitler Patriotic Front [Bibliography 4]. On 6 March 1945 he becomes prime-minister, leading the first post-war pro-communist Romanian government. He held the position until 1952 when he became the President of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly, where he remained in office until his death in 1958.
He was followed in this position by Ioan Gheorghe Maurer [Bibliography 5].
Bibliography
- Ioan Scurtu, Portrete politice, Editura Prut Internațional, 2006, p. 271.
- Nicolae C. Nicolescu, Șefii de stat și de guvern ai României 1859-2003: mică enciclopedie, București, Editura Meronia, 2003, p. 78.
- Marin C. Stănescu, Stânga politică din România în anii crizei (1929-1933), București, Editura Mica Valahie, 2002, p. 267.
- Mircea Chirițoiu, Între David și Goliath: România și Iugoslavia în balanța războiului rece, Casa editorială demiurg, 2005, p. 216.
- Ioan Scurtu, Istoria Romanilor de la Carol I la Nicolae Ceaușescu, București, Editura Mica Valahie, 2011, p. 97.