Nicolae Massim by the communist authorities because of their "bourgeois" origins. Nicolae Massim Nicolae Massim (1909–1981) was a Romanian theater director. A graduate of the School of Liberal Arts and Philosophy of the University of Cluj, Romania, and of the Institute of Dramatic Arts and Cinematography (IATC) of Bucharest, he made his directorial debut staging historical plays by the renowned historian Nicolae Iorga at the "Cultural League Theatre" of the People's University that Iorga founded in the town of Vălenii de Munte. At the National Theatre Bucharest, Nicolae Massim made his debut as assistant director to Ion Sahighian, and during long and
Alexandru Drăghici As historian Marius Oprea notes, this initiative of his was the culmination of periodic antisemitic purges inside and outside the party structures. When Gheorghiu-Dej died in March 1965, Ion Gheorghe Maurer, Chivu Stoica, and Emil Bodnăraș, fearful of seeing Drăghici come to power, all backed Ceaușescu as the new leader. Maurer also considered that Ceaușescu had stood up to Khrushchev, while Drăghici was seen as a loyal follower of the Soviet Union. Bacon writes: "So powerful was the apparatus of terror that its chief, Alexandru Dr[ă]ghici, challenged Ceau[ș]escu for political power following Gheorghiu-Dej's death. It is a tribute to Ceau[ș]escu's