| Nicu Ceaușescu | |
| Office: | First Secretary of the Sibiu Regional Committee of the Communist Party |
| 1Namedata: | Nicolae Ceaușescu |
| Term Start: | 17 October 1987 |
| Term End: | 22 December 1989 |
| Successor: | Office abolished |
| Office1: | Minister of Youth & First Secretary of the Union of Communist Youth |
| Primeminister1: | Constantin Dăscălescu |
| Term Start1: | 11 December 1982 |
| Term End1: | 17 October 1987 |
| Predecessor1: | Pantelimon Găvănescu |
| Successor1: | Ioan Toma |
| Office2: | Member of the Great National Assembly |
| Term Start2: | 1981 |
| Term End2: | 1989 |
| Constituency2: | Buzău County |
| Birth Name: | Nicolae Ceaușescu |
| Birth Date: | 1 September 1951 |
| Death Place: | Vienna, Austria |
| Birth Place: | Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic |
| Party: | Romanian Communist Party (1971–1989) |
| Alma Mater: | University of Bucharest Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy |
| Profession: | Physicist, Politician |
| Parents: | Nicolae Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu |
| Relatives: | Valentin Ceaușescu Zoia Ceaușescu |
| Awards: | Order of "August 23" Order of Labor |
| Serviceyears: | 1975–1976 |
| Rank: | Lieutenant |
Nicu Ceaușescu (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /ˈniku tʃe̯a.uˈʃesku/; 1 September 1951 – 26 September 1996) was a Romanian physicist and communist politician who was the youngest child of Romanian leaders Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. He was a close associate of his father's political regime and considered the President's heir presumptive.
According to Ion Mihai Pacepa (who defected to the United States in 1978), Ceaușescu wanted Nicu to become his Foreign Minister and for that, he instructed two high-ranked Party members, Ștefan Andrei and Cornel Pacoste (whom he considered brilliant communist intellectuals) to take care of Nicu's education; Pacepa further claimed that, unlike his older siblings, he disliked school and was allegedly derided by them for never being seen reading a book.[1]
He graduated from Liceul no. 24 (now named Jean Monnet High School) and then studied physics at the University of Bucharest. He was involved in Uniunea Tineretului Comunist while a student, becoming its First Secretary and then Minister of Youth Issues, being elected to the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party in 1982.[2] As an apprentice in politics, he was mentored by Ștefan Andrei, Ion Traian Ștefănescu and Cornel Pacoste. Toward the end of the 1980s, he was made a member of the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party and in 1987 the leader for Sibiu County, being prepared by his parents to be his father's successor.[2]
Since high school, Nicu was reputed to be a heavy drinker. Pacepa alleged that Nicu scandalized Bucharest with his rapes and car accidents. He claimed that his father heard about Nicu's drinking problem, but his solution was the one given to every problem in Romania: work harder. He also allegedly lost large sums of money gambling around the world.[2] [3] former body double of Uday Hussein, son of Iraqi President claimed that Nicu was good friends with Uday, and the two would visit each other in Switzerland and Monaco.[4]
The documentary Videograms of a Revolution shows him exhibited as a prisoner on state television on 22 December 1989 after being arrested on accusations of holding children as hostages and other crimes. He was also arrested in 1990 for misuse of government funds under his father's regime, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Released in November 1992 because of cirrhosis, he died of the disease four years later, aged 45, in a Vienna hospital.[3]