Ilie Crețulescu (2 October 1892 – 30 November 1971) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Early days

He was born in

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commu ...

in 1892 (other sources place his birthplace in

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; german: Kreuzburg an der Bistrița (Siret), Bistritz; hu, Karácsonkő) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its privileged location in the Easter ...

). After attending elementary school in his native city, his family moved to Piatra Neamț, where he graduated from the Petru Rareș High School in 1911. He then went to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, where he graduated from the Military School for Infantry Officers in June 1913 with the rank of second lieutenant. He was named platoon commander in the 15th Infantry Regiment ''Războieni'', garrisoned in Piatra Neamț.

World War I

After Romania entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, Crețulescu served in the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

from August 1916 to July 1918, and again from October 1918 to March 1921. He was promoted to lieutenant in July 1916 and captain in July 1917. For valor on the battlefield, he was awarded the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Knight class and the Order of the Crown, Officer class.

The interwar

In the Fall of 1923 he enrolled in the Higher War School, graduating in 1925. He then worked for six years at the General Staff, being promoted to major in 1929. From 1931 to 1937 he served as

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

to the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, and advanced in rank to lieutenant colonel in 1933 and to colonel in 1938. From April 1938 to February 1939, he was Commanding Officer of the 15th Infantry Regiment in Piatra Neamț. In 1939, he served as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,76 ...

. In June 1940, he was awarded the

, Officer class.Decretul Regal nr. 1.905 din 8 iunie 1940 pentru numiri de membri ai ordinului "Steaua României", publicat în ''

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, general ...

'', anul CVIII, nr. 131 din 8 iunie 1940, partea I-a, p. 2.783.

World War II

In September 1940, Crețulescu was appointed Chief of Staff of the 4th Army Corps, with headquarters in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, while in June 1941 he was named Commanding Officer of the 9th Infantry Brigade ''Mărășești'', based in

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

, which he led until April 1944. He advanced in rank to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in March 1943. From April to November 1944, he held a series of positions: General Officer Commanding 104th Mountain Command, General Officer Commanding 103rd Mountain Division, and General Officer Commanding 4th Mountain Division (''

Vânători de munte Vânători may refer to several places: Romania * Vânători, Galați, a commune in Galați County * Vânători, Iași, a commune in Iaşi County * Vânători, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi County * Vânători, Mureș, a commune in Mureș C ...

''). In the wake of the 23 August coup d'état, Romania switched sides to the

. In September 1944, during the

Battle of Turda The Battle of Turda lasted from 5 September to 8 October 1944, in the area around Turda, Kingdom of Romania, as part of the wider Battle of Romania. Troops from the Hungarian 2nd Army and the German 8th Army fought a defensive action against R ...

, he fought with the 103rd Mountain Division against

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

forces in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, in the

Ciuc Mountains Ciuc Mountains (Romanian ''Munții Ciucului'', Hungarian ''Csíki-havasok'') are a mid-high range of mountains of Harghita County in Transylvania, Romania. Geologically they belong to the Căliman-Harghita Mountains group of the Inner Eastern C ...

and on to the

Mureș River Mureș may refer to: * Mureș County, Romania * Mureș (river) in Romania and Hungary (''Maros'') * Mureș culture, a Bronze Age culture from Romania See also * Târgu Mureș, the capital of Mureș County * Ocna Mureș Ocna Mureș (; la, Salina ...

. Subsequently, Crețulescu served as Under-Secretary of State for Land Forces (November–December 1944), and then Vice Chief of the General Staff (December 1944–August 1945). During that time, he coordinated the operations of the Romanian 1st and 4th Armies in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. For his wartime activities, he was awarded the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave ( ro, Ordinul Mihai Viteazul) is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign of the First World War, and was again awarded in the Second Wor ...

, 3rd class, the

Order of the White Eagle (Serbia) The Royal Order of the White Eagle was a Royal Order in the Kingdom of Serbia (1883–1918) and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1945). It continues as a dynastic order, with appointments currently made by Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavi ...

, and the

Military Order of the White Lion The Military Order of the White Lion ( cs, Vojenský řád Bílého lva „Za vítězství“), also known as the Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", was an award established on 9 February 1945 to reward military merit, either personal ...

After the war

From August 1945 to June 1947, he was General Officer Commanding Frontier Troops. On 23 August 1946 he was promoted to major general. In 1947, Crețulescu served as Deputy General Officer Commanding the 1st Military Region and then Chief of Staff of the 1st Military Region. He retired in 1948, and was promoted to

colonel general Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

(retired) in 1960. In 1964 he was awarded the , 2nd class, and in 1968 he published his memoirs.

Personal life

In 1941 he married Adina Străjescu, the daughter of General and the widow of Colonel Paul Străjescu. Crețulescu died in Bucharest in 1971, and was buried in the city's

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

. The funeral monument of the family features statues of Saints

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

Ion Jalea Ion Jalea (; 19 May 1887 – 7 November 1983) was a Romanian sculptor, medallist, titular member of the Romanian Academy. Biography Artistic studies Jalea was born on 19 May 1887 in the little town of Casimcea, Tulcea County. His family ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cretulescu, Ilie 1892 births 1971 deaths People from Ploiești Carol I National Defence University alumni Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Prefects of Romania Romanian non-fiction writers Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave Recipients of the Military Order of the White Lion Burials at Bellu Cemetery