Mihail Lascăr

Mihail Lascăr (Romanian pronunciation: [mihaˈil ˈlaskər]; born November 8, 1889 in Târgu Jiu, Romania; died July 24, 1959 in Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian General during World War II and Romania's Minister of Defense from 1946 to 1947.

Mihail Lascăr
Born	November 8, 1889 Târgu Jiu, Kingdom of Romania
Died	July 24, 1959 (1959-07-25) (aged 69) Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic
Allegiance	Romanian Army
Years of service	1910–1950
Rank	General
Commands held	1st Mountain Brigade 6th Division Horia, Cloșca și Crișan Division Fourth Army
Battles/wars	Second Balkan War World War I World War II Operation Barbarossa Battle of the Sea of Azov Battle of Crimea (1941) Battle of Stalingrad
Awards	Iron Cross, 1st class Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class
69th Minister of Defense
In office 29 November 1946 – 27 December 1947
Prime Minister	Petru Groza
Preceded by	Constantin Vasiliu-Rășcanu
Succeeded by	Emil Bodnăraș

After graduating from the Infantry Officer School in 1910 with the rank of 2nd lieutenant, he fought in the Second Balkan War and in World War I, being promoted to major. He became colonel in 1934, and brigadier general in 1939.

On January 10, 1941, he was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Mountain Brigade, an elite military unit of the Third Army. On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and its allies) commenced, with the Mountain Brigade entering Northern Bukovina. From there, Lascăr and his unit swung East, crossing the rivers Dniester, Bug, and Dnieper. He fought in the Battle of the Sea of Azov, and then in the Battle of Crimea, remaining in charge of the Mountain Brigade until February 10, 1942. On March 11, 1942, he took charge of the 6th Division of the Romanian Third Army, and fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. After the Romanian front was broken at the Battle of Stalingrad, General Lascăr took command of the remains of the Romanian Third Army kept fighting for 4 days. He was taken prisoner on November 22, 1942, spending the years 1943-1945 in captivity in the Soviet Union.

On April 12, 1945, Lascăr became commander of the Horia, Cloșca și Crișan Division; the political commissar attached to this Soviet-organized unit was the Communist activist Valter Roman. On September 12, 1945, Lascăr was named commander of the Fourth Army. He was a leader of the Electoral Commission of the Army, in advance of the general election of November 19, 1946. After a coalition led by the Romanian Communist Party won the election (through widespread intimidation tactics and electoral fraud), he was appointed Minister of Defense, holding this ministerial portfolio from November 29, 1946 until December 27, 1947, when he was replaced by Emil Bodnăraș. He was then Inspector-General of the Romanian Army until January 12, 1950, when he was discharged from active duty.

On June 7, 1947, he signed the decree establishing the football club Asociația Sportivă a Armatei București, now CSA Steaua București.