Death and Legacy
Gheorghiu-Dej died of lung cancer in Bucharest on March 19, 1965. Some claim that he was intentionally irradiated during a visit to Moscow, due to his political stance. Gheorghe Apostol argued that he had been appointed successor by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej himself, and was in any case perceived as such in 1965. Ion Gheorghe Maurer, who had developed a hostility towards Apostol, made sure that he was prevented from gaining power, rallying the Party leadership around Nicolae Ceauşescu - a protégé of Gheorghiu-Dej, and a figure of secondary importance at the time. The highest-ranking Soviet Bloc intelligence defector, Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa described a conversation with Nicolae Ceauşescu, who told him about "ten international leaders the Kremlin killed or tried to kill"; Gheorghiu-Dej was one of them
Gheorghiu-Dej was buried in a mausoleum in Liberty Park in Bucharest. In 1990, after the Romanian Revolution, his body was exhumed and reburied in a city cemetery. The Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, renamed to Polytechnic Institute "Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej" Bucharest in his honor, is now known as the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. The city of Oneşti was once named Gheorghe-Gheorghiu Dej. Also, the Russian city of Liski was named, during 1965-1990, Georgiu-Dezh in his honor.
Gheorghiu-Dej was married to Maria Alexe and they had two daughters: Vasilica (1928–1987) and Constantina (born 1931).
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