Born into a Hungarian-Jewish family in Transylvania, Ardeleanu joined the Romanian Communist Party prior to 1944, while it was banned. He was married to Clara Turcu, a manager at the Foreign Ministry under Ana Pauker. As head of the General Press and Typography Directorate from 1951 to 1973, Ardeleanu was one of the chief enforcers of censorship in Communist Romania. His obtuseness, intolerance and dogmatism became legendary. Between 1956 and 1958, he formed part of a team that investigated and monitored the ousted, Imre Nagy-led Hungarian government being held under arrest at Snagov.