Alexandru N. Ciurcu (29 January 1854,

Șercaia Șercaia (; ; ) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Hălmeag (''Halmagen''; ''Halmágy''; ''Halmaç''), Șercaia, and Vad (''Waadt'', ''Waden''; ''Vád''). The Hungarian name means "dragon". Ge ...

– 22 January 1922,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n inventor and publisher, known for his invention with the French journalist of a

reaction engine A reaction engine is an engine, engine or motor that produces thrust by expelling reaction mass (reaction propulsion), in accordance with Newton's third law of motion. This law of motion is commonly paraphrased as: "For every action force there ...

. It used

rocket propulsion A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to Acceleration, accelerate without using any surrounding Atmosphere of Earth, air. A rocket engine produces thrust by Reaction (physics), reaction to exhaust ex ...

and was briefly used to power a boat, demonstrated on 13 August 1886. The two men envisioned that such motors would later be used for air travel. Ciurcu accident

On 16 December 1886, during a test with a new second engine for the boat at Asnières, the engine exploded. Buisson and an assistant at the helm were killed. Ciurcu survived by swimming ashore, but at first was accused of murder.

Family

One of his cousins was the doctor Sterie N. Ciurcu, who obtained his doctorate in 1877 in Vienna and who worked in Vienna from 1886. A militant for the national cause of the Romanians in the

Habsburg empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

and editor of some Romanian magazines, he was imprisoned by the Habsburg authorities in 1916, when Romania entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and died in prison. He was decorated with the Order of the Crown.

Education

Alexandru Ciurcu attended high school in Brașov, taking his baccalaureate in 1872. He studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

between 1873 and 1876. He also attended technical courses.

References

Romanian inventors 19th-century Romanian scientists 1854 births 1922 deaths {{Romania-scientist-stub