Dan Deșliu de pe aer", 1974). Starting in 1962 and particularly from 1970, he began to criticize the policies of the Romanian Communist Party, and as a result was placed under thorough surveillance by the Securitate secret police. In the 1980s, he turned toward open dissidence, repudiating his "revolutionary" past, quitting the party in 1980 and directly criticizing dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, whom he accused of behaving as if he were "the owner of Romania". In March 1989, he sent an open letter to Radio Free Europe decrying the domestic situation in his country, prompting his placement under house arrest. An excellent swimmer,
Nicolae Pătrașcu other, leaving the family in destitution. In the 1640s, Nicolae's son Mihai was asked by Wallachian Prince Matei Basarab to become his crown prince, but this request did not suit Habsburgs policies, and was dropped. Nicolae's widow and his daughter Ilinca were allowed passage, and repatriated both Princes' remains, which were buried together at Comana Monastery. Ilinca went on to marry a high-ranking boyar, Istratie Leurdeanu. In a document which uses the courtly language, Church Slavonic, Nicolae describes himself as: ("By the Grace of God "Io" Niecolaie Voivode and Hospodar of the Entire Hungro-Wallachian Country"). Historian Nicolae Iorga highlights the