Gheorghe Apostol (16 May 1913 – 21 August 2010) was a Romanian politician, deputy Prime Minister of Romania and a former leader of the Communist Party (PCR), noted for his rivalry with Nicolae Ceaușescu.

His activities upon his release from jail got him interned in camps for political prisoners, at Târgu Jiu, Caracal, and Miercurea Ciuc.

In August 1944, as the Red Army was approaching the Romanian border, Apostol and several communist figures who were being detained at Târgu Jiu escaped and made their way to the underground.

This version of the story follows Apostol's official biography of the 1950s; photos taken upon the liberation of the camp (published in Dosarele Istoriei, for instance), allegedly showing him in the middle of the crowd of former prisoners, made some doubt this account.[who?]

After Stalin's death in 1953, the regime in Romania, headed by the same inner circle, was largely opposed to Nikita Khrushchev and de-Stalinization, while carrying out its own reforms and attempting to cut off economic ties to the Soviet Union.

Protected by Emil Bodnăraș, he was advised to take refuge in a diplomatic career, becoming ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and then Brazil.

In 1988, at the peak of Nicolae Ceaușescu's leadership, Apostol returned to Romania and contacted other communist figures of his generation (such as Alexandru Bârlădeanu, Silviu Brucan, Corneliu Mănescu, Constantin Pîrvulescu, and Grigore Răceanu) drafting an open letter of protest (dubbed Scrisoarea celor șase – "Letter of the Six"), directed at the government and made public (on 11 March 1989) through the means of both Radio Free Europe and Voice of America.