Former Romanian President Ion Ilyescu, who was called “Patteroulis” of the Romanian nation by many, although accused of chaotic transition from communism to the Republic, died today at the age of 95, the Romanian said.

“With deep regrets, the government announces the death of former Romanian president Ion Ilescu who passed away today, August 5, 2025,” the statement said, adding that the details of the organization of the funeral public expenditure will be announced.

Ilyescu was linked to the chaotic transition of the Eastern European country from communism to democracy, before seeing his image tarnished by accusations of “crimes against humanity”.

He was hospitalized with lung cancer in early June in a Bucharest hospital, his health was described as “critical” last week.

He was born on March 3, 1930 in a Communist family in Oltenita (south). His mother won the family bread by washing clothes, and their father was a railway officer. Iliscu studied an engineer in Moscow before quickly rising to the party ranks and became youth minister under Nicolae Ceausescu.

Following the arrest of the dictator in December 1989 and his execution, Ilyescu took power, head of the National Front Salvation (NSF), and promised to stabilize the country.

His opponents, however, accused him of orchestrating the violence that left more than 850 dead and thousands of injured.

He was elected triumphant leader of state in May 1990 with a multi -party system taking 85% of the vote. A close friend of the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, Ilyscu opposed any cleansing policy aimed at banning former senior communist officials from nominating public office.

A month later, it would cause worldwide concern by encouraging thousands of miners who had arrived from the provinces to violently dismantle a student movement that prevented traffic in Bucharest, with students complaining about his intervention policies.

He was re -elected in November 1992 (61%), and credited to Romania’s transition to the market economy. He was defeated in the 1996 elections before returning to power in 2000, leading his country to NATO and the European Union, while painting this Atlantis with a paradoxical anti -liberal rhetoric. “I’m poor, but honest,” he used to boast.

But in 2017, his call from justice was supposed to be his last public appearance.

He was subsequently brought to trial twice for “crimes against humanity” to prove his responsibility in the bloody riots of December 1989. But the hearing never took place and the case file was returned to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, where it remains until today.

He was also accused of his role in suppressing the 1990 demonstration, which left four dead behind.

Ilyescu rejected the accusations by calling the prosecutors “national shame” and facing suspicions against him very strictly, although he “played an important role in democratization of the country.”

He remained popular in the region, where his simplicity was appreciated and he himself was regarded as “father -in -law” ala, reassuring in a time of deep unrest, but he was despised by the circles of intellectuals.