Ion Dragalina

Ion Dragalina
Born	16 December 1860 Caransebeş, Austria-Hungary
Died	9 November 1916 Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
Allegiance	Romanian Army
Years of service	1887-1916
Rank	General
Commands held	1st Army
Battles/wars	World War I-Romanian Campaign

Battle of Orșova
Part of Romanian Campaign (World War I)
Date 2 September 1916 Location Orsova, Kingdom of Hungary (now Orșova, Romania) Result Romanian victory
Belligerents
Romania	Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Ion Dragalina	Arthur Arz von Straußenburg
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Ion Dragalina (16 December 1860 – 9 November 1916) was a Romanian general, who died during the First World War in the Battle of Jiu Valley. Dragalina was born in the city of Caransebeş, which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Ioan Dragalina was a descendant of a military family. His father, Alexandru Dragalina, served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army until his resignation in 1859. His parents moved to Romania, where his father was appointed administrator of the border region. However, Marta Lazaroni, his mother, wanted to give birth in her ancestral home and thus the family returned to Caransebeș, where in 1860 Ioan, the first of their four sons, was born.

Ioan Dragalina went to primary school in Caransebeș and then to military school in Timişoara. He continued his studies at the Military Academy in Vienna (1884) and joined the Austro-Hungarian army. While at the Military Academy, he enrolled and graduated from the School of Geodetic Engineering. In 1886 he married Elena Giurginca. They had six children: two sons (Corneliu – born in 1887, and Virgiliu – born in 1890) and four daughters (Aurora, Elena, Cornelia and Viorica).

In 1887, Ioan Dragalina resigned from the Austro-Hungarian Army and moved to Romania where he joined the Romanian Army as a second lieutenant. He advanced through the ranks becoming captain in 1892, major in 1899 and lieutenant-colonel in 1908. Between 1908 and 1911, lieutenant-colonel Dragalina was the commander of the Military Infantry School in Bucharest. For his work in developing the scientific curriculum and for the order and discipline instilled in the military education system, Ioan Dragalina was made a member of the Order of the Star of Romania, First class.

In April 1911, colonel Ioan Dragalina took over the command of the 34th Regiment in Constanţa. During this time, he was made a member of the Order of the Crown, Fourth Class. In 1915 he was promoted to Brigadier General and had under his command the Third Territorial Commandment.

During the years of Romania's neutrality, Dragalina worked on fortifications in the Prahova Valley.

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