Early life He was born on 19 September 1894 in
Craiova,
Dolj County, in the
Oltenia region of the
Kingdom of Romania. He descended from a family from
Dobriceni,
Olt County with a long military tradition.
Military career In 1913 he went to study at the Artillery Officer School in
Bucharest; soon after, he was sent to fight in
Southern Dobruja, during the
Second Balkan War. He graduated in 1916 with the rank of second lieutenant, and starting in July he served with the heavy artillery 1st Regiment–Dolj. He fought during the
Romanian Campaign of
World War I, notably at the
Battle of Mărășești, when he was gravely wounded in his left arm at
Muncelu, on 6 August 1917. He was promoted to Colonel in June 1943 and was put in command of the 1st Heavy Artillery Regiment. After
King Michael's Coup of 23 August 1944, Romania switched sides and joined the
Allies. Dobriceanu disengaged his regiment and took new positions at
Poienarii Burchii, just south of
Ploiești. On 7 September he was assigned to the
4th Army (commanded by General
Gheorghe Avramescu), in support of the 6th Infantry Division. He fought against the
German and
Hungarian forces in the
Battle of Turda, first at
Târnăveni, and then along the
Mureș River Valley. He continued advancing with the 4th Army towards
Oradea and then crossed into
Hungary. On 19 October, at the battle for
Rákóczifalva, his regiment fought was attacked by some 50–60
Tiger and
Panther tanks, coming from the direction of
Szolnok. Although lacking infantry support, skillful maneuvering and precise firing of the artillery pieces carried the day; four German tanks were destroyed and several damaged, while only two Romanian guns were lost. For this feat of arms, Dobriceanu was awarded in 1945 the
Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class. After the establishment of the
Communist regime, he was tried for participating in the fighting on the
Eastern Front and was declared a
war criminal. All his properties (including the family mansion from Dobriceni) were confiscated, he was demoted to the rank of soldier, and was put under forced domicile. Fortuitously, he met in 1966 his former orderly,
Andruță Ceaușescu, who agreed to intercede with his son,
Nicolae Ceaușescu. As a result, Dobriceanu was
rehabilitated, his property in the
Dorobanți neighborhood was returned to him, and he was promoted to major general (in the reserves) in 1967. He died on 10 February 1978 in
Bucharest. while part of his book collection is with the Municipal Library in Târnăveni. Dobriceanu had a daughter, Sanda, and a son, Alexandru (Ricu), who was an
Air Force pilot in World War II, then worked for many years as an engineer on restoration projects for the
fortified church in
Prejmer and the
St. Nicholas Church in
Brașov, before leaving for
France. ==Awards==