Vasile Atanasiu | |
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| Born | (1886-04-25)April 25, 1886 |
| Died | June 6, 1964(1964-06-06) (aged 78) Bucharest, Romania |
| Occupation | Army General |
| Known for | World War II veteran |
Vasile Atanasiu (April 25, 1886 – June 6, 1964) was aRomaniangeneral inWorld War II.
He was born inTârgoviște,Romania, in 1886, in a Greek-Romanian family, the son of Ștefan and Paulina Atanasiu. He graduated from the "Military School of Artillery, Combat Engineering and Navy officers" in 1907, with the rank ofsecond lieutenant, being promotedlieutenant in 1910,captain in 1915, andmajor in 1917 duringWorld War I. After the war he attended theHigher War School inBucharest, graduating in 1920, when he was advanced to the rank oflieutenant colonel.
After reaching the rank ofcolonel in 1928, and ofbrigadier general in 1935, Atanasiu was advanced todivisional general in 1940, before the beginning ofWorld War II and tolieutenant general in 1942.
He served as Commander of the 2nd Army Corps in 1941, and moved to the 3d Army Corps which he commanded from June 22, 1941, to March 20, 1943. In this capacity he led the Corps in the military actions for the liberation ofBessarabia in the battle for thebeachhead ofAlbița on thePrut River, and then in the advance to theDniester atTiraspol. He was then in command of the corps on thefront line fromKarpovo to Dalnik during theSiege of Odessa.
In 1943 he was appointed Inspector-General of Artillery, a position which he held from March 20, 1943, to February 12, 1945.
AfterKing Michael's Coup in August 1944, he took command of the1st Romanian Army, taking part in the battles on the Czechoslovak front in theJavorina, between the riversHron andMorava and thereafter inBohemia, during theBratislava–Brno Offensive. He was promoted togeneral (general de armată) on April 11, 1945. Atanasiu retired in 1948 and died in Bucharest in 1964.[1][2][3]
During his career, Atanasiu received the following awards and medals.