By Carmen Sylva
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, I'll introduce you prominent Romanian women, less spoken but with significant impacts that made history. These women discovered new things, stood up for women’s rights and even contributed during the war.
Probably one of the most famous contemporary Romanian woman is Nadia Comăneci.
She was born on November 12th 1961, in Onești. In 1976, at the age of 14, she participated in the Montreal Olympics. She was the first gymnast to receive a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games. During her career, she won 9 Olympic gold medals, and 4 more at the World Artistic Gymnastic Championship. She is now 58 years old and lives in Norman, Oklahoma, where she has operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics academy, which trains over 1000 students.
One of the few anti-communist fighters, Eizabeta Rizea, is now a symbol of courage and strength.
Born in the Fagaras Mountains, on June 28th 1912, in a loving peasant family, Elizabeta lived a calm life in the countryside. After World War II, in communist Romania, peasants had to give up their land to the government. Elizabeta and her husband joined a rebellion movement against the communist regime. She was arrested and spent 12 years in prison, where she was tortured and beaten. Upon her release from prison, she beard signed of torture for the rest of her life. She became a symbol of Romania's anti-communist resistance. She died on the 4th of October 2003.
Ana Aslan, biologist and physician, founder of a medical company Gerovital, of which you might have used cosmetics or medicines.
Born on the 1st of January 1897, Ana was the youngest of the 4 children. It was rather unusual for girls at the time to go to university, so she went on hunger strike, until her mother let her choose the medical path. While experimenting with procaine drug, she discovered that it had some benefits. The further three-year research lead into the creation of Gerovital, anti-ageing pharmaceutical. It was used by many famous people like John F. Kennedy. She died on the 20th of May 1988.
Elena Caragiani was the first woman aviator in Romania.
Elena Caragiani was born on the 13th of May 1887. Elena was not allowed to fly in Romania, because she was a woman. She fled to France, where she got her licence in 1914, when there were only 10 women aviators in the whole world. After Romania’s entry into the WW I, Elena expressed her will to use her aviation skills and to transport wounded or medicines by air, but her help as women pilot was refused. Thus she joined the Red Cross and later she worked as a journalist around the world, until her return in Romania, where she died on the 29th of March 1929.
Image: Aviator License, by Calusarul - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10074564
The first woman architect was Virginia Andreescu.
Virginia was born on the 21st of June 1894, in Bucharest. Her mother died when she was nine years old and she took in charge raising her three younger siblings. In 1912, she graduated from high school and then enrolled in the Superior School of Architecture. She was the first woman to graduate with a degree in architecture. 35 of her known works are in Bucharest. She designed public and private buildings and monuments, and her own private house if of Art Deco style. Virginia died on the 6th of May 1962.
The first Romanian woman to be part of the French Academy was Elena Văcărescu, a poet, writer and translator.
Elena was born on the 21stof September 1864. She first got acquainted with the English literature through her English governess, Miss Allan. She also studied French literature in Paris, where she met Victor Hugo,whom she later mentioned in her memoirs. She attended courses of philosophy, aesthetics and history, and also studied poetry.
The turning point in her life came when she met the Elizabeth of Wied, Queen of Romania, wife of King Carol the 1st. The Queen invited her to the palace in 1888. The Queen became interested in Elena Văcărescu's literary achievements and got attached to the poet. Having not yet recovered from the death of her only daughter in 1874, Queen Elizabeth transferred all her maternal love to Elena. Elena was later exiled out of Romania, because of her affair with Ferdinand (King Carlo’s adopted son). Just before her death, Văcărescu was a member of the Gheroghe Tătărescu-headed Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War II. She died on the 17th of February 1947 in Paris.
The first female to receive a PhD in law was Sarmiza Bilcescu.
Sarmiza was born on April 27th 1897. She moved to France with her mother, where she went to university. It wasn't easy as the faculty of Law didn't want to admit her. Eventually she received a license to practice law in 1887. In 1891, she was admitted with the full honors to the bar association in Ilfov County (which, at that time, also included Bucharest). Aside from being a first in Romania, this event was unprecedented in comparison to most European countries. The measure was notably welcomed by the Belgian lawyer and liberal politician Louis Franck, who deemed it "a major innovation".
Sarmiza Bilcescu married Constantin Alimănişteanu six years after being admitted to the bar, and retired from her profession, while remaining active in feminist circles, and being among the founding members of Societatea Domnişoarelor Române (the Society of Romanian Young Ladies").
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