Ion Iliescu, Romania’s first freely elected president after Communism, helped bring down the country’s dictatorship and led its transition to democracy and a market economy. A central figure in the 1989 revolution,

As a three-term president, he guided the country toward democracy, but he was called an authoritarian at heart and accused of brutality during the revolt that put him in power.

On the day of Ion Iliescu's funeral, the polarizing legacy of Romania's first elected president after the fall of communism was laid bare.