Constantin Coandă (1857-1932)

Constantin Coandă (1857, Craiova – 1932 Bucarest) was a Romanian soldier and politician.

Constantin Coandă attended the courses of the military schools in Iaşi and Bucharest. While still in school he participated in the military operations of the Romanian War of Independence. In 1880 he is sent to continue his studies in France, at the Polytechnic School, where he graduates with a major in mathematics and thereafter at the School of Artillery in Fontainebleau.

His military career is rapid: underlieutenant in 1877, lieutenant in 1880, captain in 1883, major in 1888, lieutenant-colonel in 1892, colonel in 1896, brigade general in 1900, divional general in 1911 and army general in 1917.

In 1888, having reached the rank of major, he is sent as military attache to Vienna and to Bruxelles. He subsequently became aide to camp to crown prince Ferdinand.

He also became professor of mathematics at the National School of Bridges and Roads in Bucharest.

During World War I, for a short time (October 24 – November 29, 1918), he was the Prime Minister of Romania and the Foreign Affairs Minister. He participated in the signing of the Treaty of Neuilly between the Allies of World War I and Bulgaria.

During his term as president of the Romanian Senate (representing Alexandru Averescu's People's Party), Coandă was badly wounded on December 8, 1920 by a bomb set up by the terrorist Max Goldstein.