Ceausescu’s son wins restitution claim

A court in Bucharest has ruled that the National Art Museum of Romania must return a group of paintings and sculptures to the son of the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Nuclear physicist Valentin Ceausescu said that the works had been seized during the 1989 anti-communist uprising in Romania which culminated in the execution of his father and mother Elena. The restituted works, which include pieces by Romanian artists such as Theodor Pallady and Corneliu Baba, reportedly belonged to Valentin’s brother Nicu who filed a lawsuit in 1996 shortly before his death seeking the return of art housed at the museum in Bucharest. The National Art Museum declined to comment or say whether it would appeal against the ruling.