Ștefan Burileanu (10 January 1874 – 1944) 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 officer, engineer, inventor, and academic who rose to the rank of major general in 1933.''Din elita artileriei''
col. prof. univ. dr. Adrian STROEA, col.(r) Marin GHINOIU, București: Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei, 2012, p. 58-59,

Biography

Burileanu was born in Burila Mare village,

Mehedinți County Mehedinți County () is a county () of Romania on the border with Serbia and Bulgaria. It is mostly located in the historical province of Oltenia, with one municipality (Orșova) and three communes (Dubova, Mehedinți, Dubova, Eșelnița, and Svi ...

. He went to high school in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, graduating in 1891. From 1892 to 1894 he studied engineering and military science at

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

and from 1894–1896 at the Saint-Cyr military school in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

. He completes his studies in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1901, earning a Ph.D. degree from the Sorbonne with a thesis titled ''Nouvelle méthode de balistique extérieure''. In 1915 he converted the Hotchkiss 57 mm Model 1888/1916 into an anti-aircraft cannon, designing a system which he named ''Burileanu''. The 40 converted cannons had a rate of fire of 20-25 rounds per minute, a horizontal firing arc of 360° and a vertical arc of + 85°. Colonel Burileanu designed and built a special

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

for this cannon, increasing its range by 22%. The cannon was widely used by the Romanian Army in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, bringing down German planes at Mărășești, Piatra Neamț, and

Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...

. He made a similar system for the Gruson 53 mm Model 1887/1916. He also contributed to the Romanian victory at the Battle of Mărășești through the modifications he made to its cannons and

howitzer The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

s. Between 1923 and 1930 Burileanu was a professor of

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

at the University of Cluj. He was elected titular member of the Romanian Academy of Sciences (Military Section) on 21 December 1935. Nowadays Burileanu is viewed as the father of the Romanian anti-aircraft artillery. In his memory, the Academy of Sciences has instituted a prize in his name. A street in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

also bears his name. The Romanian Army's Test and Evaluation Center, located in Jegălia,

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 94.1% ...

, is also named after General Burileanu.

References

1874 births 1951 deaths People from Mehedinți County École Polytechnique alumni École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni University of Paris alumni Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian scientists Romanian inventors Academic staff of Babeș-Bolyai University Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences Romanian expatriates in France {{Romania-mil-bio-stub