[For context (courtesy of Wikipedia, of course), Elena Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, President of the Socialist Republic of Romania. She was also the Deputy Prime Minister of Romania. Her and her husband were overthrown and executed in 1989.]
Elena’s lack of education was to dog her throughout her life and was undoubtedly the driving force behind one of the more curious aspects of her career as the wife of Romania’s leading politician.
Having not even completed an elementary education it seems that Elenea was desperate to convince people that she was a strong, intelligent woman. To this end she somehow managed to ‘acquire’ a PhD in chemistry. Although everyone knew the doctorate was a fake, no one questioned its authenticity. This madness continued when she was later elected chairman of the main chemistry research laboratory in Romania. Elena also sought recognition for her academic achievements abroad, accepting honorary degrees for her scientific work from almost every country she visited. Mircea Codreanu, a Romanian diplomat posted to Washington, states: ‘Being an ignorant, uneducated, primitive kind of woman, she really thought that if she had some titles after her name, it would change her image.’ To add insult to injury she also forced many renowned Romanian scientists to relinquish their own research and have it published in various journals under her name.
Source:
Klein, Shelley. “Elena Ceausescu.” The Most Evil Women in History. Barnes & Noble Books, 2003. 92. Print.
Original Source Listed:
From Kiss the Hand You Cannot Bite by Edward Behr, Villard Books, 1991.
Further Reading:
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If given the choice of life in a surveillance state that is either a democracy or a dictatorship, the dictatorship is arguably a better choice: the rampant corruption and ineptitude that such a system promotes means that there is less infringement on your daily life.