Ilie Cătărău

Ilie V. Cătărău
Cătărău around the time of the Debrecen bombing
Birth name	Katarov?
Nickname(s)	Cătărău-Orhei
Born	1888 Orhei or Marcăuți
Died	ca. 1952 Transylvania
Allegiance	Russian Empire Kingdom of Romania Moldavian Democratic Republic
Service/branch	Hussars (Imperial Russian Army) Infantry (Romanian Land Forces, MDR army)
Years of service	before 1911 1913 1917
Rank	Colonel (self-appointed)
Commands held	1st Moldavian Regiment
Other work	Espionage, political activity, amateur sports, smuggling

Ilie V. Cătărău (Romanian pronunciation: [iˈli.e kətəˈrəw], reportedly born Katarov, last name also Cătărău-Orhei; 1888 – ca. 1952) was a Bessarabian-born political adventurer, soldier and spy, who spent parts of his life in Romania. Leading a secretive life, he is widely held to have been the main perpetrator of two bomb attacks, which sought to exacerbate tensions between Romania and Austria-Hungary in preparation for World War I. Beyond his cover as a refugee from the Russian Empire, Ilie Cătărău was a double agent, working for both Russian and Romanian interests.

By 1917, Cătărău was formally committed to anarchism and communism, allying himself with Bessarabia's Bolshevik insurgents. Profiting from favorable circumstances, and nominally servicing the anti-Bolshevik Moldavian Democratic Republic, he became commander of the 1st Moldavian Regiment in late 1917. In short time, his position and his application of a communist program eroded the Republic's prestige, and his soldiers began openly threatening the Bessarabian government. Cătărău was deposed and arrested by Gherman Pântea and a unit of Amur Cossacks, being sent into exile.

After more adventures, which took him as far afield as Japan and Polynesia, Cătărău faded to relative obscurity. He only returned to history in the 1940s, a conjectural ally of the Soviet Union and the Romanian communist regime. In old age, he retreated from political affairs and became a Romanian Orthodox monk.