Octavian O. Ghibu (1912-1996)

Abstract

Octavian Ghibu was born in 1912 being the eldest son of Onisifor Ghibu and Veturia Nicolau-Ghibu. He studied economics and law and received a doctorate in economics, becoming one of the youngest businessmen of interwar Romania. He was arrested in 1948, and sent in forced-labour camps during 1950-1951. In 1961, he was tried and sentenced to 17 years in prison on false charges of treason and was released in 1964. In order to earn a living for himself and his family, he was forced to work, until his retirement, in jobs incompatible with his high professional training, taking into account the fact that he had a political severely negative record. As an exception, he had the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of economic university education (insurances). For more than three decades, the main aim of his life was to systematize and publish the huge written work of his father, the scholar, professor and national unity activist Onisifor Ghibu, who was severely marginalised by the communist regime between 1945 and 1972. Octavian Ghibu played an important role in establishing relations with the Republic of Moldova from 1990 onwards and revitalising Romanian spirit in this country; he contributed to the restoration and improvement of the Romanian language and culture in Basarabia by organising the “Onisifor Ghibu” Library in Chișinău (1992).