POST-REVOLUTION ROMANIA, 1990: Statue of V. I. Lenin in Piata Scanteii gets displaced

On March 5, two months after the events of December 1989 that toppled communism in Romania, a vestige of the late regime, a bronze statue of Vladimir I. Lenin, on the esplanade before in front of the Casa Scanteii, today's Casa Presei Libere, was removed from its pedestal.

Since February, several dozen people had protested the presence of V.I. Lenin there, calling it an anachronism after the December Revolution, sticking posters to the statue's pedestal that demanded the removal of this symbol of communism. On March 2, 1990, a news story put out by the Rompres National News Agency was saying: "On March 2, 1990, on the pedestal of the statue of Lenin, who for decades would cast its massive shadow on the background of the Romanian Press House, father Grecu Sorin Paul of Rosiorii de Vede entered a hunger strike demanding the removal of this 'bastion of communism' and replacing it with a large cross in memory of the December 1989 heroes of the nation." He was on hunger strike for 72 hours.

Therefore, at a meeting of the Provisional Council of National Union, on March 2, 1990, a decision was made to remove the statue.

The seven-meter high bronze statue of the Soviet leader was the work of sculptor Boris Caragea and was unveiled on April 21, 1960. The date had not been chosen by chance. On April 22, 1960, it was the 90th birth anniversary of the late Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870-1924). Erected on a red granite base, the architects Horia Maicu, Nicolae Cucu, Iulian Namescu were in charge of systematising the site.

The press back then was reporting: "From 11:00 o'clock yesterday, our beautiful Capital has a monument. A monument in front of the imposing building of Casa Scanteii, depicting the great and beloved leader of the international proletariat, the maker of the Communist Party, the Soviet Union and the Soviet State (...) The monument, made by sculptor Boris Caragea, shows Vladimir Ilyich Lenin looking in the distance towards the shining horizons of communism (...) ". "Attending the unveiling of the monument were comrades Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica, Gheorghe Apostol, Emil Bodnaras, Petre Borila, Nicolae Ceausescu, Alexandru Draghici, Alexandru Moghioros, Leonte Rautu, general of the army Leontin Salajan, Stefan Voitec, Ion Gheorghe Maurer." ("Scanteia,' April 22, 1960).

On March 3, 1990, 30 years later, the operation of displacing the statue of Lenin from its base started in the presence of hundreds of people, as well as of Romanian and foreign press reporters. The work was carried out with difficulty, as the statue was weighing seven tonnes and had been secured in place by means of metal bolts that were one with the concrete in the base.

A Demag-type crane with a lifting force of 36 tonnes and a trailer towed by a tractor came to the scene. The operations of placing the crane but also the technical operations of displacement from the pedestal, of translation and deposition on the means of transport were coordinated by specialists from the Group of Bucharest Communal Management Companies. They paid special attention to maintaining the integrity of the base, avoiding as much as possible the breaking of the granite plates imported from Sweden, which had a special value.

After a continuous effort day and night, on Monday, March 5, 1990, at 22:00hrs, the statue was taken down. After another 30 minutes, the technical means that transported it left Piata Presei Libere, headed for the workshops of the Visual Arts Fund. After a while, the statue was stored in the park of Mogosoaia Palace, where it remained for over 20 years. Then Bucharest General Mayor Dan Predescu said that the base will be preserved for a monument of authentic artistic values.

On May 30, 2016, a "Wings" monument was unveiled there, made by sculptor Mihai Buculei and dedicated to the fighters of the 1945-1989 anti-communist resistance in Romania and Bessarabia.

The monument, three stylised wings made of stainless steel, weighs over 100 tonnes and it is over 20 metres high.