He was born in
Beceni,
Buzău County in 1884. From 1903 to 1905 he attended the Military School of Artillery and Genius, graduating with the rank of second lieutenant, advancing to lieutenant in 1909 and captain in 1913. During the
Second Balkan War and the
Romanian Campaign of
World War I he served with the 12th Artillery Regiment. He fought in the
Battle of Transylvania in 1916 and the battle of
Măgura Cașin in 1917. For his valor, he was promoted to major in 1917 and was awarded in 1917 the
Order of the Crown, Knight rank. After
Romania entered World War II on the side of the
Axis in June 1941, Constantinescu-Claps commanded the XI Corps from July 18, 1941, during
Operation Barbarossa. He took part in
Operation München and the
Siege of Odessa. In the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, General
Nicolae Ciupercă noted:
"General Constantinescu has led the army corps with a lot of competence, causing, indirectly, the withdrawal of the Soviet forces between the Dniester River and the Suhoz Lake. I consider him to be a very good army corps commander, who is distinguished by great devotion and precious optimism". On November 9, 1941, Constantinescu-Claps was appointed the commander of the
Romanian Fourth Army and was promoted to lieutenant general in January 1942. is located at the bottom of the map. He fought later that year at the
Battle of Stalingrad, where the
Romanian armies suffered a crushing defeat. Constantinescu’s 4th Army, with 75,580 men, comprising the 6th Army Corps (1st, 2nd, 18th, and 20th Infantry Divisions) and the 7th Army Corps (4th Infantry Division, 5th and 8th Cavalry Divisions), was deployed to the south of
Stalingrad. Most of these formations were in deplorable shape, with at best 73% of necessary manpower, with the 1st Infantry Division going as low as 25% and an almost nonexistent arsenal of heavy antitank guns. The 4th Army occupied a line running approximately from
Staraya Otrada to
Sarpa, which provided the perfect spot for Marshal
Georgy Zhukov's southern strike at the start of
Operation Uranus. On 20 November 1942, the Romanian Fourth Army was attacked by the Soviet
57th and
51st Armies, with the main blow in the sector of the 6th Army Corps. In all, the Romanian Army lost 158,854 men (dead, wounded and missing) between November 19, 1942 and January 7, 1943. On February 10, 1943, Constantinescu-Claps was relieved of his assignment and replaced by
Constantin Sănătescu. He retired from the Army in 1943. In spite of his rank and unlike many other Romanian generals, he never received any German medals and was in conflict with
Conducător Ion Antonescu. After
King Michael's Coup of August 1944, Constantinescu-Claps received the
Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class, and was promoted to general (reserve) in September 1944. Once the
Communist regime was established in Romania, he was arrested in September 1951, and incarcerated at
Văcărești Prison. He was married to Henrietta, née Răileanu, a descendant on her mother's side of the
Sturdza and
Rosetti families; the two had a son, Radu Constantinescu (1919–1998). In 2019, a street in
Buzău was named after Constantinescu-Claps. ==See also==