In memory of the Romanian politician Ion Diaconescu, who died on October 11, 2011 at the age of 94, after a life in the service of liberty and democracy.
Born on August 25, 1917, Ion spent 17 years of his life (1947-1964) in Romanian Communist prisons, as one of the leaders of the National Peasant Party (NPP).
After the fall of the Communist regime in 1989, Ion was involved in the reconstruction of his political party and in the democratization process of Romania. In 1995, Ion became president of the NPP and one year later was elected president of the Romanian parliament (1996-2000). He died in Bucharest after suffering a heart attack.