Bear Fact

Ceausescu gets another prize

Some unkind critics might think that Rumania's party boss, Nicolae Ceausescu, was trying to encourage a, well, cult of personality. Bronze heads and busts cast in his image dot the country. He has twice been declared a Hero of the Socialist Republic of Rumania. His uniform as commander in chief of the Rumanian armed forces is encrusted with medals. He has been acclaimed in the adulatory party press for "exceptional creativeness in philosophy, political economy, history, education, science and culture." Now, as a fitting cap to this imposing catalogue of achievements, awards and encomiums, the diminutive dictator has been officially honored as a sportsman.

Armed with a rifle, Ceausescu went hunting in the craggy forest land of the northeastern Carpathians, home of the wild Rumanian brown bear. There, according to the International Council of Hunting and Game Preservation, Ceausescu shot the largest bear ever recorded in the history of hunting in Europe. This month, the general manage? of the council, Franc,ois Edmond-Blanc, presented Ceausescu with a golden plate. He declared that the Rumanian leader had beaten the previous world record by 100 points, according to a complex formula involving the bear's size and the quality of its fur. A bit of East Bloc one-upmanship added to Ceausescu's triumph. The previous record holder was the president of neighboring Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito.

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