Constantin Hârjeu

Born into a poor family in Bucharest, he attended the officers’ school there from 1874 to 1876.

Hârjeu then went to the École Polytechnique in Paris and to the School of Applied Artillery at Fontainebleau, becoming among the first Romanian military engineers educated abroad.

Returning home, he steadily advanced through the ranks of the Romanian Land Forces, becoming a brigadier general in 1904.

He contributed to military magazines, and in 1900 wrote a French-language study of the Romanian Army.

His interest in fortifications led him to author a book on the history of military engineering, awarded a prize by the Romanian Academy in 1902.