on 3 july 1970, ceaușescu married iordana (dana) borilă (d. 2017), the daughter of communist party leader petre borilă. both fathers, then political rivals, strongly opposed their children's marriage. the resulting fight, which lasted years, eventually resulted in dana and their child, daniel, being exiled to canada. dana and valentin were divorced in 1989. daniel, like his father, studied to be a physicist.