Ștefan Bardan (14 September 1892 – ?) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n major general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After becoming an officer in the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

, he advanced to lieutenant colonel in 1933 and colonel in 1938. He served as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

11th Regiment in 1941, and later that year became commandant of the Infantry Instruction Center. In October 1941, Bardan was awarded the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...

, 3rd class.Decretul Regal nr. 2.886 din 17 octombrie 1941 pentru conferiri de ordine, publicat în ''

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official government gazette, gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgation, promulgated bills, President of Romania, presidential decrees, Government of Romania, governmental ordinances and other m ...

'', anul CIX, nr. 248 din 18 octombrie 1941, partea I-a, p. 6.394. In March 1943 he was promoted to brigadier general, after which he served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Romanian 4th Army (under the command of lieutenant general

Gheorghe Avramescu Gheorghe Avramescu (26 January 1884 – 3 March 1945) was a Romanian Lieutenant General during World War II. In 1945, he died in Slovakia during a German air attack, while under the arrest of the NKVD. Early life Avramescu was born Botoșani o ...

) from June to December of that year. Bardan then became

general officer commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

of the 5th Infantry Division, which he led until September 1944. Subsequently, he was made Vice Chief of the General Staff, and went into reserve in July 1945. After being promoted to major general in August 1946, he retired in September 1947. The last part of his life he lived in

Balotești Balotești is a Communes of Romania, commune in the northwestern part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. Two small rivers flow through this location: Cociovaliștea and Vlăsia. It is composed of three villages: Balotești, Dumbrăveni, and Săft ...

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...

, where he had received a property on a hill which, in time, was called by the villagers "La Generalu'" (''At the General''). A street on this hill is now named after him.

References

1892 births Year of death unknown Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave {{Romania-mil-bio-stub