Elisa Brătianu

Elisa Brătianu (2 May 1870 – 13 May 1957) was a Romanian aristocrat, political figure and participant in the Inter-Allied Women's Conference of 1919. She was born into the Stirbey royal family, the daughter of Prince Alexandru B. Știrbei (1837-1895) and the Princess Maria Ghika-Comănești (1851-1885), inheritor of two noble titles, the Ghika family occupying the title of royal family in the history of Romania. An avid gardener, she designed the gardens at the Albatross Villa in Buzău and discussed plans for gardens in Bucharest with the town gardener. Concerned about the loss of traditional Romanian culture, she developed schools to keep stitchery traditions alive and published books of patterns. When her husband, long-serving prime minister Ion I.C. Brătianu died, she spearheaded a foundation to collect his archives and create a library to publish his most important works.

Elisa Brătianu
Born	Elisa I. Știrbei (1870-05-02)2 May 1870 Buftea, United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Ottoman Empire
Died	13 May 1957(1957-05-13) (aged 87) Bucharest, Romanian People's Republic
Nationality	Romanian
Other names	Elisa Marghiloman, Eliza Știrbei
Occupations	Cultural preservationist writer
Years active	1897–1948
Spouses	Alexandru Marghiloman ​ ​ (m. 1890; div. 1906)​ Ion I. C. Brătianu ​ ​ (m. 1907; died 1927)​
Parent(s)	Alexandru B. Știrbei (father) Maria Ghika-Comănești [ro] (mother)
Relatives	Barbu Știrbey (brother) Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei (grandfather) Gheorghe Bibescu (great uncle)
Family	Brătianu family Știrbei family

Early life

 

Ştirbei Palace, Buftea 2012

 

Ştirbei Palace Chapel, Buftea, 2012

Princess Elisa I. Știrbei was born on 2 May 1870 at Știrbei Palace, in Buftea, located in the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia of the Ottoman Empire to Prince Alexandru B. Știrbei and his wife, Princess Maria Ghika-Comănești (1851-1885).^[1][2] Her mother Maria was originally from Comănești in the Principality of Moldavia, while her father's family were from Muntenia in the Principality of Wallachia. As the union of the two principalities had occurred only eleven years prior to Știrbei's birth, her mother worked to ensure that the children thought of themselves as Romanians.^[3] Her mother's dowry included the winery and estate in Dărmănești, which would serve as the Știrbei family's summer home.^[1] Her father was an industrialist who took a specific interest in preserving and expanding the architectural holdings of his family^[4][5] and was involved in politics.^[6] Her grandfather, Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei, was a Prince of Wallachia. Having been born into the Bibescu family and adopted by his uncle the heirless Barbu C. Știrbey, last of the ancient Oltenian boyars, Barbu D. Știrbei and his brother Prince Gheorghe Bibescu were both active in Wallachian politics.^[4][7]

 

Alexandru B. Știrbei family

The oldest of eight children, Elisa's siblings were Elena (1871–1897), Barbu A. (1872–1946), Zoe (1874–1896), Maria (1876–1963) Adina (1877–1967), Gheorghe (1883–1917) and Ioana (1885–1914).^[3] The children were tutored at home in the Știrbei Palace by a series of tutors, who included Ioan Slavici. Slavici was influential upon Știrbei's life, introducing her to the poet Mihai Eminescu,^[2] beginning her love of literature. She studied language and became fluent in English, French, German, and Romanian.^[8] She remembered her childhood as idyllic spending time at the family palaces in Bucharest, Buftea and Dărmăneşti, until her mother's death, which coincided with the birth of her youngest sister, Ioana.^[1][2]

Activism

 

Albatros Villa, 2015

At the urging of her father, in 1890, Știrbei married Alexandru Marghiloman, a Conservative politician sixteen years her senior.^{[2] [3]} In 1897, the couple moved into the Albatross Villa in Buzău, where Știrbei, who was an avid gardener, planned and assisted in the creation of the English landscape park which was a favorite of Queen Marie of Romania and noted in the queen's memoirs. She was consulted by the Bucharest City gardener for his work on the Cișmigiu Gardens and a series of lakes for the neighborhood of Colentina. Știrbei also supported literary talents like Nicolae Iorga and Pamfil Șeicaru [ro], financially assisting Iorga in launching Floarea Darurilor in 1906.^[8]

Știrbei and Marghiloman divorced in 1906, and she was returned her dowry property, as well as several thousand hectares of property in Fundeni Village in Zărneşti Commune of Buzău County.^[8] On 3 March 1907, in a dual ceremony held first at the Town Hall of Bucoveni in Ilfov County, and followed by a religious service on 4 March by a priest from Amzei Church at Știrbei Palace, Știrbei married Ion I. C. Brătianu,^{[3][4][Notes 1]} a Liberal politician and political rival of her previous husband.^[4] Her relationship with the Brătianu family, and particularly Ion's sister Sabina Cantacuzino [ro] would be difficult, especially after their mother, Caliopia [ro]'s death.^[2][3]

In 1913, during the Second Balkan War Brătianu established an ambulance service to assist cholera patients who had participated in the Bulgarian campaign. She also converted rooms in Știrbei Palace and their home in the Amzei suburb of Bucharest into hospital barracks. As World War I began, Brătianu organized a women's workshop, known as "Albina" to encourage the tradition of Romanian stitching handicrafts. She collected various patterns of needlework and published them in an album. She also organized a seamstresses' school in Ștefănești, compiling another publication of the students' best works.^[2] At the school, students learned to make traditional Romanian blouses and sheep skin coats, as well as other traditional clothing.^[3] Wanting to be able to read Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in their original languages, during the war, she decided to learn Russian.^[8][2] In addition to her philanthropic projects to preserve Romanian culture, from the time of her marriage to Ion, Brătianu served as hostess and participant in the center of Romanian politics, entertaining diplomats and dignitaries who were consultants and friends of her husband.^[10]

At the end of the war Brătianu accompanied her husband, who was by that time the Prime Minister of Romania, to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and participated with the deputation of women from the Inter-Allied Women's Conference in their historic presentation on women's concerns to the League of Nations.^[11] When Ion's mother Caliopia died on 3 February 1920,^[2][3] he and Brătianu used his family's estate "Florica", in Ștefănești, Argeș County, as a refuge from the city and politics.^[12] Ion turned the gardens over to Brătianu which exacerbated conflict with his sister Sabina, who saw the gardens as her mother's legacy. Turning away from the conflict, Brătianu abandoned the gardens, focusing her attention in the interwar years on organizing materials for the Ion I.C. Brătianu Cultural Foundation.^[2][3]

When Ion died in 1927, Brătianu met with his brothers, Vintila and Constantin to incorporate the foundation in 1928. The three-fold purpose of the foundation was to establish a library to archive Ion's papers, publish his most important works, and raise a statue in his memory.^[13] Brătianu donated a property located at #3 Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard, where the "Albina Society" would continue to operate, as well as the lot at #5 Lascăr Catargiu Blvd.^[14] The brothers donated 6,000 volumes from the library at "Florica", which had been Ion's to start the library's collections. Dimitrie Sturdza's heirs and other family connections also donated books to the library, bringing the quantity of books to over 20,000 volumes by 1933.^[15] Construction began in 1931 to build a separate facility for the library and reading room on lot 5, which was completed around 1938.^[16] In 1935, the foundation contracted with Ivan Meštrović, at Brătianu's request, to sculpt the marble statue of Ion I. C. Brătianu, for the park in front of the new library.^[17] The dedication of the completed project was celebrated on 24 November 1938 with attendance by many Romanian dignitaries and the public.^[18]

Beginning in 1940, Brătianu dictated her memoirs in French to her secretary. After her sisters proclaimed the memories "boring", she destroyed the first copy. It is believed that she later dictate a second collection of her memoirs to Olga Kogalniceanu-Cogal, which ended up in the archives of the Securitate.^[10] During World War II, she was encouraged by Liberal Party leaders to maintain communications with Allied diplomats, like Reginald Hoare to negotiate how the Romanians could limit Soviet expansion. She was also sent as an emissary to Cairo to explore the possibility of an armistice with the Western Allies.^[10][19] When the Romanian Government began bringing children suffering from the drought and poverty from Moldavia to Bucharest, in 1945, Brătianu began making slippers to shod them.^[3] When the communists took control of the government in 1945, the Ion I.C. Brătianu Cultural Foundation ceased to exist and the building became nationalized. Many of the books and furniture were removed from the center and the statue was taken down, though it was not destroyed.^[18] In 1948, Brătianu was evicted from her home and her property was expropriated by the communists. She managed to remove some of her family heirlooms and was offered rooms with Magdalena Beldiman, daughter of Radu Rosetti. She survived her final years by selling off her furnishings and family silver, as well as making slippers for sale.^[3][10]

Death and legacy

Brătianu died on 13 May 1957 and was buried in the Rosetti Family Tomb in the Bellu Cemetery.^[3] In 1991, after the Romanian Revolution had overturned the communist regime, the statue of Ion I. C. Brătianu was located and restored to its original location.^[18] Marian Stefan collected the memoirs of Elisa and Ion Brătianu and published them in Magazin Istoric in 1992 and 1997. In 1999, these were published by Editura Oscar Print as Elisa Brătianu, Ion IC Brătianu, Memorii involuntare (Elisa Brătianu, Ion IC Brătianu, Involuntary Memories).^[10] In 2015, the Art History Publishing House, released volume two of its series Carte de nu-mă-uita (Do Not Forget Me), Memoriile prințesei Elisa Știrbey Brătianu (Memoirs of Princess Elisa Știrbey Brătianu) to mark her 145th birthday.^[20]

Selected works

• Brătianu, Elisa I. (1912). (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania: Editura Librăriei Scoalelor C. Sfetea. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019.
• Brătianu, Elisa I. (1929). "Les hommes d'Etat pendant la guerre: lettre ouverte à M. William Martin". Indépendance Roumaine (in French). Bucharest, Romania. OCLC 716765184.
• Brătianu, Elisa I. (1933). Compte-rendu sur Peace making, 1919, by Harold Nicolson (in French). Bucharest, Romania: Editura Cartea Romaneasca. OCLC 462386904.
• Brătianu, Elisa I. (1943). Cusaturi romanesti [Romanian Stitches]. Bucharest, Romania: Consiliului Superior al Industriei Casnice.

Notes

1. Şerban states that the ceremonies took place at the Amzei Church, followed by a ceremony at Știrbei Palace.^[4] In Romanian tradition, the religious ceremony typically precedes the second service;^[9] however, given the dates of the Brătianu Cultural Centre's records, it seems probable the couple reversed the process.^[3]

References

Citations

1. Stan 2009.
2. Grigorescu 2017.
3. Brătianu Cultural Centre 2013.
4. Şerban 2017.
5. Mitea 2013.
6. Gherghe 2009, p. 287.
7. Şontică 2005.
8. Peneș 2011.
9. Manastireanu 2017.
10. Ornea 1999.
11. Andrews 1919, p. 2.
12. Torrey 1973, p. 13.
13. Jurcă 1999, p. 145.
14. Jurcă 1999, p. 139.
15. Jurcă 1999, p. 140.
16. Jurcă 1999, p. 141.
17. Jurcă 1999, p. 142.
18. Jurcă 1999, p. 143.
19. Troncotă, Spânu & Pintilie n.d., p. =228.
20. Ghinda 2015.

Bibliography

• Andrews, Fannie Fern (20 June 1919). Letter to Carrie Chapman Catt (PDF) (Report). Boston, Massachusetts – via ASP: Women and Social Movements.
• Gherghe, Cosmin Lucian (2009). Emanoil Chinezu – om politic, avocat şi istoric (PDF) (in Romanian). Craiova, Romania: Editura Sitech. ISBN 978-606-530-315-7. Emanoil Chinezu - political, lawyer and historian
• Ghinda, Florin (25 October 2015). [Launch "Elisa Brătianu Memoirs" / 28 October]. RomaniaPozitive.ro (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
• Grigorescu, Denis (6 August 2017). [Life story: Elisa Bratianu, the successor of two rulers of Wallachia, was married with two prime ministers]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
• Jurcă, Chira (January 1999). [The Ion I.C. Brătianu cultural foundation] (PDF). Muzeul Naţional (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania: Muzeul Național de Istorie a României (11): 139–145. ISSN 1015-0323. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
• Manastireanu, Valentina (12 August 2017). . interestingtimes.ro. Bucharest, Romania: Interesting Times Bureau. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
• Mitea, Ioana (2013). "Resedintele Stirbey din Bucuresti si Buftea. Arhitectura si decoratia interioara" [Stirbey residences in Bucharest and Buftea: Architecture and interior decoration]. Revista Bibliotecii Naţionale (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania: National Library of Romania. 19 (2): 108. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
• Ornea, Z. (1999). [Chronicle of editions: The memoirs of Bratianu]. Revistă a Uniunii Scriitorilor Din România (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania: Fundatia Romania literara (40). ISSN 0030-560X. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
• Peneș, Nicolae (27 August 2011). [Subjective Radiographs – Alexandru Marghiloman – Lord Valah (VI) (marriage to Princess Eliza Ştirbei)] (in Romanian). Buzău, Romania: Opinia. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
• Şerban, Alexandra (25 February 2017). [Serial Big Boys, Episode 7: How the Stirbey generation was reborn from its own ashes. Barbu Ştirbey, the most skilled man in the shadow of King Ferdinand]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
• Şontică, Daniela Cârlea (12 December 2005). [The white prince]. Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
• Stan, Simina (25 July 2009). [The manor of the George Ştirbey family in Dărmăneşti]. Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). Bucharest, Romania. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
• Torrey, Glenn E. (1973). "Rumania's Decision to Intervene: Bratianu and the Entente, June–July 1916". In Hitchins, Keith (ed.). Rumanian Studies: An International Annual of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 2: 1971–1972. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill Publishers. pp. 3–29. ISBN 90-04-03639-3.
• Troncotă, Cristian; Spânu, Alin; Pintilie, Florin (n.d.). Documente S.S.I. Despre Poziția și Activitățile Politice din România: 6 Septembrie 1940 – 23 August 1944 [S.S.I. Documents about Position and Activities in Politics From Romania: 6 September 1940 – 23 August 1944] (in Romanian). Vol. II. Bucharest, Romania: Institutul Național pentru Studiul Totalitarismului.
• . culturabratianu.ro. Ștefănești, Argeș, Romania: Brătianu Cultural Centre. 2013. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2019.