Dan Deșliu

In 1971 he was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit [ro], 2nd class,[1] and in 1974 he received the Romanian Writers' Union Prize for his book Cetatea de pe aer.

[3] During the 1940s and 1950s, he quickly came to the literary forefront as a representative poet of his era, much lauded for his militant socialist realist poetry that enthusiastically chronicled the events of the day.

[4] In the 1980s, he turned toward open dissidence, repudiating his "revolutionary" past,[5] quitting the party in 1980[4] and directly criticizing dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, whom he accused of behaving as if he were "the owner of Romania".

[5] In March 1989, he sent an open letter to Radio Free Europe decrying the domestic situation in his country, prompting his placement under house arrest.

[8] After a thorough search covering the 20 km (12 mi) between Costinești and Vama Veche, his intact body was found after eight days beside the dock of Ceaușescu's former villa in Neptun.