Personalities

Blog

“She drew beauty from anything she did and spread it around her”. Maria Rosetti’s gifts to Romania

Ilinca Stroe

Jun 3, 20222 min read

“She drew beauty from anything she did and spread it around her”. Maria Rosetti’s gifts to Romania

Romanian by choice. Revolutionary leader. Mother. Writer. Activist. Who said Romanian girls and women today didn’t have role models worth em

206 views0 comments

Bucharest’s erstwhile hub of social glamour: the story of Palatul Suțu

Ilinca Stroe

May 3, 20223 min read

Bucharest’s erstwhile hub of social glamour: the story of Palatul Suțu

At night, it’s spellbinding. Its moonlit front yard, with its fine wrought iron gates and marquee, its interior resembling a drawing by...

121 views0 comments

Romania’s “Queen of the Heights”: How Smaranda Brăescu Made It in a Man’s World

Ilinca Stroe

Jan 5, 20224 min read

Romania’s “Queen of the Heights”: How Smaranda Brăescu Made It in a Man’s World

Smaranda Brăescu (1897-1948) had the dream of flying at a time when her country barely guaranteed any civil rights for women. So when in

215 views0 comments

Arsenie Boca: Meeting the Romanians’ Need for Miracles

Ilinca Stroe

Sep 20, 20215 min read

Arsenie Boca: Meeting the Romanians’ Need for Miracles

Was it “his extraordinary will, his formidable memory, his being such a hard worker, his out of the ordinary

253 views0 comments

Veronica Micle and Mihai Eminescu: the Love that Fed Romania’s Finest Poetry

Ilinca Stroe

Jun 18, 20216 min read

Veronica Micle and Mihai Eminescu: the Love that Fed Romania’s Finest Poetry

Sexist as it may possibly be deep down, had there not been a Veronica Micle, there might not have been a Mihai Eminescu, either.

1,647 views0 comments

Elena Lupescu: A Femme Fatale to Interwar Romania

Ilinca Stroe

Apr 12, 20216 min read

Elena Lupescu: A Femme Fatale to Interwar Romania

When it comes to the most hated women in the history of Romania, she probably comes second only to the other greatly loathed Elena,...

954 views0 comments

Standing out in the World: 5 Out of the Ordinary Things about Romania

Ilinca Stroe

Dec 9, 20205 min read

Standing out in the World: 5 Out of the Ordinary Things about Romania

The European Union’s sixth largest country after Brexit and one of Europe’s most important agricultural producers, Romania inherited from...

744 views0 comments

The Psychology of the Romanian People: A Rough Collective Portrait

Ilinca Stroe

Sep 15, 20203 min read

The Psychology of the Romanian People: A Rough Collective Portrait

On the one hand, our high potential for cognitive and emotional intelligence, for creativity and learning is comparable to that of the Briti

4,354 views0 comments

Fighting Against the Tide of History: Elisabeta Rizea, the Anti-communist Woman Partisan

Ilinca Stroe

Aug 8, 20204 min read

Fighting Against the Tide of History: Elisabeta Rizea, the Anti-communist Woman Partisan

A graduate of barely secondary school, Romanian history nowadays pays homage to her as the female symbol of anti-communist resistance

310 views0 comments

Anghel Saligny: The Unspectacular Decency of an Engineering Star

Ilinca Stroe

May 28, 20204 min read

Anghel Saligny: The Unspectacular Decency of an Engineering Star

as you near Cernavodă, the fine, slender shape of a steel bridge is coming to view, slightly reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower metal lacework

451 views0 comments

Romania’s Lady of the Romance: Ioana Radu

Ilinca Stroe

Apr 25, 20204 min read

Romania’s Lady of the Romance: Ioana Radu

Ioana Radu was born Eugenia (Jana) Braia into a family of sub-modest means that moved from Bucharest to Craiova, in the historical region of

410 views0 comments

Queen Mother Elena: Righteous for Her Nation, Righteous among the Nations

Ilinca Stroe

Mar 20, 20203 min read

Queen Mother Elena: Righteous for Her Nation, Righteous among the Nations

without her, Romania’s King, her son, in times of turmoil and bitter suffering, would have probably failed to serve his country with the wis

513 views0 comments

The Firm Charm of Feminism in Romanian Architecture: Virginia Andreescu Haret

Ilinca Stroe

Jan 8, 20203 min read

The Firm Charm of Feminism in Romanian Architecture: Virginia Andreescu Haret

Virginia Andreescu Haret (1894-1962) made her feminist statement through the silent power of concrete: she engineered enduring urban beauty

325 views0 comments

The 30-year Travail: From the Bottom of Rankings to Powerful Romanians in the World

Ilinca Stroe

Dec 20, 20194 min read

The 30-year Travail: From the Bottom of Rankings to Powerful Romanians in the World

It is no exaggeration to state that Romanians experienced a lasting collective trauma inflicted during 42 years of communism, which

44 views0 comments

Dora d’Istria: the Coordinates of Female Romanian Genius

Ilinca Stroe

Sep 23, 20194 min read

Dora d’Istria: the Coordinates of Female Romanian Genius

The perfect pseudonym for a polymath princess born in Bucharest and hailed as one of 19th-century Europe’s most impressive cosmopolitans.

505 views0 comments

A Desperate Father’s Feat: The Iulia Haşdeu Castle

Ilinca Stroe

Aug 23, 20194 min read

A Desperate Father’s Feat: The Iulia Haşdeu Castle

It was Iulia who dictated to him, he claimed, the detailed architectural plans for the castle, the construction of which he carefully coordi

402 views0 comments

Currency Mirroring Values: Romania’s Banknotes

Ilinca Stroe

Aug 12, 20195 min read

Currency Mirroring Values: Romania’s Banknotes

Banknotes, of course, carry financial power. But they’re also indicative of what a country values in terms of achievement, which is in turn

310 views0 comments

Vladimir Ghika, the World-scale Romanian Carer

Ilinca Stroe

Jun 15, 20193 min read

Vladimir Ghika, the World-scale Romanian Carer

Instead, Vladimir Ghika - prince, priest and martyr - followed charity ideals: he chose the vocational path of good-doing

394 views0 comments

Pelişor. The Princely Home to a Magnificent Heart

Ilinca Stroe

May 21, 20193 min read

Pelişor. The Princely Home to a Magnificent Heart

you’ll soon set eyes on a smaller castle (or larger villa) which calls for love at first sight: it is charming without being imposing, grace

83 views0 comments

Ilinca Stroe

May 8, 20195 min read

Dumitru Dan, the Romanian Globetrotter

the Romanian walked 100,000 kilometres around the world for six years, dressed in folk costumes and wearing peasant sandals,

336 views0 comments