Eracle Arion
Eracle Arion , also Eraclie , (* February 24, 1838 in Bucharest ; † September 7, 1903 , buried in Fierbinți-Târg ) was a royal Romanian division general , commander of the special school for artillery and genius, inspector general of artillery , commander of the 2nd division. Army Corps and Governor of the Bucharest Fortress (Cetatea Bucureşti).
Origin and family
Eracle comes from a family of small boyars from the Ialomița area, whose pedigree goes back to the mid-seventeenth century. He was one of 16 children of the Scarlat Arion. The future general had inherited an estate with over 1,600 hectares of land in Fierbinți, Ialomița district and was with Sevastia († 1923), a daughter of Nicolae Alexandrescu, Cafegibașa (office of a coffee maker at the Moldovan divan) at the court of Prince Grigore IV Ghica , married. He had four children: Nikolaus, later Army Colonel, Zoe, Viorica and Margareta.
Life
Years of development
The young Arion decided early on for a military career. He was accepted at the School for Officers in Bucharest (1855-1857), and after graduation attended the " Ecole Polytechnique " in Paris and the "School for Artillery and Engineering" in Metz (1857-1861). He then served in his homeland as a sub-lieutenant (1857) and lieutenant (1861).
Arion's talent enabled him to move up quickly in his further military career: captain in 1864, major in 1868 and lieutenant colonel in 1870. During this time he fulfilled various functions. From 1861 to 1863 he was, among other things, section commander of Artillery Regiment No. 1 in the Romanian Army (1863–1864), then an officer in the Artillery General Staff at the War Ministry (1868–1870). During this time he was responsible for planning the development and equipping of the artillery, and from 1864 to 1868, as an officer in the Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of War, he supervised the manufacture of the cannons commissioned by the Ministry in the "Fabrique d'Armement" in Nantes . Simultaneously with his appointment as lieutenant colonel, he became commander of Artillery Regiment No. 2 (1870 to 1875).
In high offices
In 1875 Arion was promoted to colonel and chief of the artillery of the general staff. From 1875 to 1877 he served as the military attaché of the quartermaster staff to Grand Duke Nikolaus , and finally he was appointed commander of the “Special School for Artillery and Engineering”. As chief of the artillery of the general staff, he insisted on the establishment of an artillery regiment for each infantry division (report no. 550 of February 5, 1877) and thus achieved the establishment of two more artillery regiments. He also vehemently insisted on equipping the Friedrich Krupp AG with cannons of caliber 87 mm (models 1875 and 1877) and thus laid the foundation for effective state artillery. During this time he wrote the text "Instrucțiunile asupra artileriei în luptă" (guidelines for the artillery in battle).
The officer also took part in the Russo-Ottoman War , referred to in Romanian historiography as the "Romanian War of Independence", which resulted in the international recognition of Romania's sovereignty. He organized the batteries "Mircea" and "Elizabeta" for the defense of the city of Calafat . It also coordinated the construction of the bridge over the Danube at Săliştioara-Măgura , prepared the plan of attack for the artillery during the siege of Plevna and was present, together with other Romanian officers, at the surrender of the Osman Nuri Pasha .
In 1883 Arion became Brigadier General and Inspector General of Artillery, an office he held until 1892. With this rank also received two other very prestigious and important functions, namely that of the commander of the 2nd Army Corps (1893-1902) and the governor of the Bucharest Fortress (1895-1903).
In 1902, Arion was promoted to division general. As a participant in the committee to review the Bucharest fortress domes, in which numerous technical committees and the National Defense Council, chaired by the king, participated, he gave a lecture on the armament of the army . He was honorary chairman of the founding committee for the establishment of the magazine "Revista Artileriei", which is still published today. Among the most important tasks he had to fulfill were the preparations for the celebrations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the proclamation of independence in May 1902, the jubilee of King Charles I and his coronation as king in 1881. As part of the anniversary the independence, the general organized the "Feast of the first cannon (nooting)" ("Sărbătoarea Întâiului Tun") in memory of May 15, 1877, when the cannon battery "Carol" in the presence of the ruler in Calafat had fired the first projectile that the beginning of the Romanian fighting to achieve the independence previously proclaimed by parliament.
epilogue
The general, who was decorated with numerous domestic and foreign awards, including the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross , the Officer of the Order of the Star of Romania and the Imperial Russian Order of St. Vladimir 4th Class , died unexpectedly at the age of 65. He was accompanied with great pomp to the Șerban Vodă cemetery in the capital and buried there. Subsequently, at the instigation of his wife, his remains were transferred to Fierbinți and buried in the family crypt that had since been destroyed. Today the grave is in the courtyard of the Fierbinți-Târg Nursing Home. A street in Bucharest is named after him.
The obituary, published in the “Revista Artileriei” in September 1903, says: “He lived for work and work was fruitful and the harvest abundant. He was an unsurpassed teacher of the Romanian artillerymen. He was a devout and loyal soldier to his homeland and the throne. "
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Romania on Line
- ↑ a b c Eracle_Arion Enciclopedia RO
- ↑ a b Artileria modernă română, No. 1–2 (XXI), Sibiu 2011, pp. 6–8
- ↑ a b Col. prof. univ. dr. Adrian Stroea: "Din elita artileriei", Editura Centrului Tehnic-Editorial al Armatei București 2012, p. 24
- ↑ a b Revista Armatei, București, September 1903, p. 505 ff.
- ↑ Strada Eraclie Arion
literature
- M. Agapie, C. Ucrain: "Personalități ale artileriei române", Editura Militară, Bucureşti, 1993, pp. 37-44
- G- Bichicean: “Istoria Școlii de Aplicație pentru Artilerie și Rachete“ Ioan Vodă ”, Editura Tribuna, Sibiu 2000, pp. 144–150
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Arion, Eracle |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Arion, Eraclie |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Romanian general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 24, 1838 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bucharest |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 7, 1903 |
| Place of death | Bucharest |