Constantin Hârjeu (December 10, 1856 – May 24, 1928) was aRomanian general and engineer.
Born into a poor family inBucharest, he attended the officers’ school there from 1874 to 1876. Hârjeu then went to theÉcole Polytechnique in Paris and to theSchool of Applied Artillery atFontainebleau, becoming among the first Romanian military engineers educated abroad. Returning home, he steadily advanced through the ranks of theRomanian Land Forces, becoming a brigadier general in 1904.[1]
Meanwhile, Hârjeu taught at theHigher War School and at the artillery and military engineering school. His textbooks on topography (1886) and military telegraphy (1890) were widely used. 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 theRomanian Academy in 1902.[1]
Hârjeu was himself elected a corresponding member of the Academy in 1909. He served twice as War Minister: October 1912–January 1914, and March–October 1918. He was also interim Public Works Minister in 1918. He died in Bucharest in 1928.[1]