Alexandrina "Didina" Cantacuzino ( Pallady; also known as Alexandrina Grigore Cantacuzino and (
Francized) Alexandrine Cantacuzène; 20 September 1876 – 1944) was a
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
political activist, philanthropist and diplomat, one of her country's leading
feminists
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...
in the 1920s and 1930s. A leader of the National Council of Romanian Women and the Association of Romanian Women, she served as Vice President of the
International Council of Women
The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with ...
, representing the
International Alliance of Women
The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...
, as well as Romania, to the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
. However, her feminist beliefs and international profile clashed with her
national conservatism
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...
, her support for
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
, and eventually her conversion to
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
.
Cantacuzino was a member of Romanian nobility, and, after her marriage to the wealthy landowner
Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino (1872-1930) was a Romanian Conservative politician who served as Mayor of Bucharest during 1913. The son of Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino and brother of Mihail G. Cantacuzino, he married Alexandrina Pallady. , claimed the title of "Princess". Her
elitism
Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be constructi ...
and her feminism led her to join the upper-class charity SONFR, of which she became President after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. A wartime nurse, she became a herald of war remembrance initiatives (responsible, in large part, for the
Mausoleum of Mărășești).
After her involvement with the National Council of Romanian Women, she supported limited
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
within a
corporatist
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
framework, losing the support of liberal women, but also building connections with fascist politicians. Cantacuzino's policies within the Association of Romanian Women were mirrored in the legislation of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
fascist regimes, beginning with the
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front ( ro, Frontul Renașterii Naționale, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romani ...
.
Sympathetic toward the revolutionary fascist
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...
, of which her son Alecu was also an affiliate, Cantacuzino switched her support toward
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II.
A Romanian Army career officer who made ...
's government in early 1941. Having earlier reported to the League of Nations on the damages caused by the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, she was also critical of Antonescu over the
1941 Odessa massacre. This was her last known public cause. Cantacuzino died, in relative obscurity, not long after
Antonescu's downfall.
Biography
Early life
Alexandrina Pallady, also known under the pet name ''Didina'', was born in
Ciocănești, a village currently in
Dâmbovița County
Dâmbovița County (also spelt ''Dîmbovița'', ) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște, the most important economic, political, administrative and cultural center of the county.
It has an area of ...
(but, in 1876, still part of
Ilfov County
Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...
).
[Cheșchebec (2006), p.89] Her birth date is known to have been 20 September 1876,
but other sources mistakenly credit it as 1877 or 1881.
[ Marian Pruteanu]
"Discursuri despre femeie în România dintre cele două războaie mondiale"
, in Alin Ciupală, ''Despre femei și istoria lor în România'', Editura Universității București, Bucharest, 2004
e-book version
at the University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
; retrieved 8 March 2014)
She was by birth a member of the
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
upper-class: her father, Lieutenant Colonel Theodor Pallady (1847/1853–1916), an aristocrat from the eastern region (and former state) of
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
, had earned distinction in the
Romanian Land Forces
The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...
; her mother, also named Alexandrina (1845/1848 – 1881), was a Kretzulescu boyaress from
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...
, and the heiress of a large estate. Through Pallady's mother, Alexandrina descended from another boyar house, the
Ghicas, who owned the manor in Ciocănești.
The marriage produced four children in all, but Alexandrina was the only one to survive infancy.
From an affair with a Maria Stamatiade, Theodor Pallady had a son, the future
Symbolist
Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
poet-publicist
Alexandru Teodor "Al. T." Stamatiad (born 1885). Alexandrina's paternal family also produced other intellectual figures of importance:
Theodor Iancu Pallady, the modernist painter, and
Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra
Lucia Sturdza-Bulandra (25 August 1873 – 19 September 1961) was a Romanian actress and acting teacher. She is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Romanian theater.
In addition to her acting career, she played ...
, the actress, were nephews of Lt. Col. Pallady, and as such cousins of Alexandrina and Al. T. Stamatiad.
Upon her mother's death in 1881, the five-year-old Alexandrina was raised by her aunt, Eliza Ghica, and formally adopted by Eliza's husband, Vladimir M. Ghica. With Ghica money, she was able to pursue studies abroad, in France. In or around 1899,
after Eliza Ghica's death,
[Ion, pg. 276] Alexandrina Pallady-Ghica was living in the Romanian capital,
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, where she married the aspiring politician
Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino (1872-1930) was a Romanian Conservative politician who served as Mayor of Bucharest during 1913. The son of Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino and brother of Mihail G. Cantacuzino, he married Alexandrina Pallady. — known locally as ''Griguță Cantacuzino'' or, mockingly, as ''Prensul'' ("Princeling"). Her full name subsequently became ''Alexandrina Grigore Cantacuzino'' (sometimes shortened as ''Alexandrina Gr. Cantacuzino''), with the inclusion of her husband's name as a
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
.
The marriage propelled Cantacuzino into the high society, also bringing her into contact with the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
elite. The
Cantacuzino family
The House of Cantacuzino (french: Cantacuzène) is a Romanian aristocratic family of Greek origin. The family gave a number of princes to Wallachia and Moldavia, and it claimed descent from a branch of the Byzantine Kantakouzenos family, specifica ...
, of
Phanariote
Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots ( el, Φαναριώτες, ro, Fanarioți, tr, Fenerliler) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumeni ...
origins, had been highly influential in the political affairs of Moldavia and Wallachia. Her father-in-law was the magistrate, Conservative policymaker and former
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino
Prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (22 September 1833 – 22 March 1913), was a Romanian politician and lawyer, one of the leading Conservative Party policymakers. Among his political posts were minister of public instruction in Romania, preside ...
(1833–1913). He was also one of the greatest estate-owners in the
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...
, known to the general public as ''Nababul'' ("the
Nawab
Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب;
bn, নবাব/নওয়াব;
hi, नवाब;
Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ;
Persian language, Persian,
Punjabi language, Punjabi ,
Sindhi language, Sindhi,
Urd ...
").
[ Simona Lazăr Tudor Cireș]
"Un secol de la moartea lui George Grigore Cantacuzino, zis Nababul"
, in ''Jurnalul Național
''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest
Bucharest ...
'', 23 March 2013. Her brother-in-law was
Mihail G. "Mișu" Cantacuzino (1867–1928), who was the
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
and the leader of an inner-Conservative faction.
The Cantacuzinos stated claim to a princely title, which, although rendered useless under Romanian law, allowed Alexandrina to style herself "Princess Cantacuzino".
According to historian Marian Pruteanu, Alexandrina was "an avid collector of decorations and titles", who studied
genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
with the goal of establishing her blood relations with various noble families.
Signs of her family wealth included one of Bucharest's first privately owned automobiles.
SONFR beginnings
![G](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/G._G._and_Alexandrina_Cantacuzino_with_automobile%2C_Bucharest%2C_1900.jpg)
Alexandrina and Grigore had three sons, all of them born between 1900 and 1905,
before both parents resumed their public careers. In 1910, Alexandrina joined a
Romanian Orthodox
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...
philanthropic society, the
National Orthodox Society of Romanian Women (''
Societatea Ortodoxă Națională a Femeilor Române'', SONFR). While she is most often credited as a founding member,
the Society might have existed under a different name as early as 1893, with Ecaterina Cantacuzino, Gheorghe's wife, as its President.
[Filitti, p.6]
The central core of SONFR was a group of high-society ladies, including Alexandrina Cantacuzino and, among others, Zoe Râmniceanu, Elena Odobescu, Anastasia Filipescu, Maria Glagoveanu, Sultana Miclescu and Zetta Manu. As indicated by the name, SONFR was situated on the conservative right of Romanian feminism, where it "reinforced women's traditional roles as mothers and wives",
[Bucur (2003), p.64] being entirely apolitical. However, the Society was soon involved in a number of adjacent projects, such as disseminating propaganda among the Romanians of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
,
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
, and other parts of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, and circulating letters of protest against
Magyarization
Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithan ...
.
Although SONFR was sponsored by "the Nawab" and other mainline Conservatives, such ideological positions resonated with the National Liberal program of
Spiru Haret
Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...
, the
Education Minister, who offered his full support. With such sources of revenue, supplemented by bank loans and private donations, SONFR established two girls' schools, 17
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
s (the first of which was in
Dorobanți), and 22 public libraries. Some of its funds went directly into purchasing land for Romanian peasant communities in Transylvania and elsewhere, with schools being built as far afield as
Chernowitz
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the u ...
,
Geaca, and
Markovac.
SONFR's more formal mission was to combat "foreign religious propaganda" and "the foreign educational establishments", which it described as sources of corruption for young Romanian women. According to historian Alin Ciupală, these goals should be seen as reflecting the "borderline intolerant" position of Romanian Orthodoxy, but not particularly conclusive at that: "We believe that SONFR's would-be alliance with the Church determined the adoption by the Ladies' Society leadership of ideas circulated by some Orthodox
hierarchs
An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws.
Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ...
, especially those concerning Catholicism, but mostly with a tactical goal in mind.
..Moreover, one might mention here the organizers' intent to make use, as it did, of the Church-controlled, nation-wide, infrastructure: the priests as instruments for propaganda and the influence, not just moral, of the leading Orthodox hierarchs."
SONFR members included liberal
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
s, such as
Calypso Botez; Cantacuzino herself was less clearly affiliated with this current, although she did describe herself a "feminist".
As noted by gender historian Roxana Cheșchebec, Cantacuzino was primarily an
elitist
Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be construc ...
, who believed in fulfilling a "historic mission of the upper classes", focusing on assisting "the socially disadvantaged as a way of serving the country and the nation."
[Cheșchebec (2006), p.90] The same is noted by Pruteanu, who also records her claim that Romanian nobility lived "outside the murderous luxury that surrounds us."
Pruteanu believes that Cantacuzino was "confused", with "a fractured identity", forever oscillating between "conformism and rebellion."
Meanwhile, in 1913, Grigore was appointed
Mayor of Bucharest
The Mayor of Bucharest ( ro, Primarul General al Municipiului București), sometimes known as the General Mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania, which is responsible for citywide affairs, such as the water system, the ...
in the wake of the "Tramcar Affair", which had besmirched the opposition
National Liberal Party. According to contemporary sources, he owed his appointment exclusively to "the Nawab", who was at the time performing his last official function, that of
Senate President
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...
. The immensely large Cantacuzino estate was split between the two sons, both of whom used the
Zamora Castle of
Bușteni
Bușteni () is a small mountain town in the north of Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley, at the bottom of the Bucegi Mountains, that have a maximum altitude of . Its name literally means tree-logs in Romanian. ...
. It was to serve as a frequent retreat for the
Romanian royal family
The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...
.
In 1915, Alexandrina also inherited the properties of her adoptive father, including Ciocănești.
World War I nurse
![Princess_Cantacuzene](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Princess_Cantacuzene.jpg)
The start of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
placed Romania in a delicate situation. From 1914 to the summer of 1916, the National Liberal cabinet of
Ion I. C. Brătianu preserved the country's neutrality (''see
Romania during World War I
The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...
''). Public opinion became sharply divided among supporters of the
Entente Powers
The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...
and the "
Germanophile
A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German citizen. The love of the ''Ge ...
s"—who favored the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
, particularly
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. Grigore Cantacuzino oscillated between the two sides, but his two newspapers, ''Minerva'' and ''
Seara
Seara is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina in the South region of Brazil. The Museu Entomológico Fritz Plaumann is located in the town.
See also
*List of municipalities in Santa Catarina
This is a list of the municipalities in th ...
'', were closely associated with Germanophilia. In September 1914, they were bought from him by a German consortium, and became the mouthpieces of German propaganda.
Following the
1916 Treaty with the Entente,
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Ferdinand I and Premier Brătianu agreed to join the war against the Central Powers. This had the effect of silencing Germanophile dissidence. Alexandrina volunteered for work as a nurse. In August 1916, she became manager of the No. 113 Hospital, set up at the SONFR Institute in Bucharest with funds from the
National Bank of Romania
The National Bank of Romania ( ro, Banca Națională a României, BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of Bucharest.
The National Bank of Romania is responsible ...
(her assistant managers were Elena Odobescu and Elena Perticari). By the end of the year, however, the Romanian Army was on the retreat everywhere, with the Germans
in sight of Bucharest. King and government followed the Army retreat into Moldavia, where they remained besieged until 1918. The invasion further divided the Cantacuzino family, between those who aligned themselves with the German regime in Bucharest, and those who, as loyalists, fought against the Germans in Moldavia. The Zamora Castle was requisitioned by the
Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
, serving as residence for the Governor,
August von Mackensen
Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen (born Mackensen; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), ennobled as "von Mackensen" in 1899, was a German field marshal. He commanded successfully during World War I of 1914–1918 and became one of t ...
.
Grigore was an associate of the Germanophile administration set up by
Lupu Kostaki Lupu may refer to:
* Lupu (surname)
* Lupu Bridge (卢浦大桥), spanning the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China
* Lupu, Funing County, Jiangsu (芦蒲镇), town in Funing County, Jiangsu, China
* Lupu River, a tributary of the river Râul Lung in ...
in Bucharest, but moreover a confidant of the skeptical Conservative
Alexandru Marghiloman
Alexandru Marghiloman (4 July 1854 – 10 May 1925) was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 (March–October) as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I.
Early career
Born in Buz ...
. Together with Marghiloman and others, he stood up to the Germans when it came to providing for civilian needs, such as when he procured firewood for the Bucharest populace. Reportedly, he also took a mediating position between Marghiloman, who remained respectful of King Ferdinand, and
Petre P. Carp
Petre P. Carp (; also Petrache Carp, Francized ''Pierre Carp'', Ioana Pârvulescu"O adresă high-life", in ''România Literară'', Nr. 25/2010 occasionally ''Comte Carpe''; 28 Mircea Dumitriu"Petre P. Carp – un suflet, un caracter, o idee", in ...
, who wanted the dynasty ousted and replaced.
With Marghiloman as President of the
Romanian Red Cross
The Romanian Red Cross (CRR), also known as the National Society of Red Cross from Romania (''Societatea Naționalǎ de Cruce Roșie din România''), is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relie ...
, Alexandrina became a member of the Red Cross "Ladies' Committee", working to provide humanitarian assistance for the prisoners-of-war in Romania and abroad. Her political attitudes at the time remain a mystery, with the exception of her belief that "a new world shall rise from the bloodied humanity"—not as an endorsement of political revolution, but as a trust in the ethnic Romanian capacity for work and rejuvenation.
On several occasions, Cantacuzino stood up to the German authorities and protected SONFR's interests, usually with significant success.
[Filitti, p.7] SONFR was involved in smuggling recovering Romanian soldiers back into the Moldavian free zone.
The hospital she managed was eventually evicted by the Germans, and Alexandrina published a letter a protest; she and her husband also spoke up in favor of
Conon
Conon ( el, Κόνων) (before 443 BC – c. 389 BC) was an Athenian general at the end of the Peloponnesian War, who led the Athenian naval forces when they were defeated by a Peloponnesian fleet in the crucial Battle of Aegospotami; later he c ...
, the
Metropolitan Bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.
Originally, the term referred to the b ...
, who was being pressured into handing in the church administration to Mariu Theodorian-Carada, a Catholic. Such shows of dissent almost led to Alexandrina's own imprisonment in a German camp.
Marghiloman government
Alexandrina returned to work at the hospital. She decided to hold a banquet there in honor of Alexandru D. Sturdza and other defectors from the loyalist Romanian Army. The affair ended in a brawl between the party guests and the inmates-patients they ran into. In late 1917, with the fall of its
Russian Republic
The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the Decree on the system of government of Russia (1918), 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state (polity), state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territ ...
an backers, the Brătianu administration collapsed in Moldavia, leaving Ferdinand to ponder an
armistice with the Germans. In Bucharest, the Marghiloman Conservatives created their own Legislative Commission, with the aim of achieving peace and reconciliation; Grigore Cantacuzino was among its members, but failed to win appointment in the subsequent Marghiloman Cabinet.
The year 1918 ended in unexpected defeat for the Germanophiles: the
November Armistice signaled a sudden victory for the Entente Powers, and instantly brought the fall of Marghiloman's administration. Alexandrina Cantacuzino, who witnessed the events, mediated between the disgraced Marghiloman and General
Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets (as well as being ''inter ...
, the King's favorite minister, circulating rumors that Romania was prey to
revolutionary socialism
Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolut ...
. Organizing the welcome-back celebrations for
Queen Marie, she also urged Marghiloman to stay indoors, because the Entente's military mission and the general populace wished to avoid him. As a tribute to her patriotic actions, Cantacuzino was elected SONFR president in 1918; she would lead the Society until 1938.
Sabina Cantacuzino, Brătianu's sister and an in-law of Alexandrina's, observed her recovery from the side. In her memoirs, published in 1937, she accuses Alexandrina of staging "an advertisement". In her view, the SONFR leader making "a public show" of her compassion toward Romanian soldiers, while secure in the knowledge that Grigore Cantacuzino was in favor with the Germans. Such claims are also found in the diaries of Pia Alimănișteanu (Brătianu's daughter and Sabina's niece), who additionally writes that "Didina" enjoyed "hunting with the hounds and running with the hare". These views were met with opprobrium upon publishing: Sabina's work was dismissed as a libelous sample of Brătianu's "monopoly on patriotism".
The Conservative Party was in disarray, losing its members in droves. Marghiloman held on to the unpopular "Conservative" title (later "Conservative-Progressive"), while Grigore Cantacuzino advised in favor of reforming it as a "Constitutional Party", or merging it into Averescu's more successful
People's Party. The brothers' "Cantacuzino Conservative" group became a virtually independent faction, sometimes in rebellion against Marghiloman's orders, and sympathetic to the breakaway
Conservative-Democratic Party
The Conservative-Democratic Party (, PCD) was a political party in Romania. Over the years, it had the following names: the Democratic Party, the Nationalist Conservative Party, or the Unionist Conservative Party.
The Conservative-Democratic Part ...
. However, both Grigore and Marghiloman were horrified by the promise of
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
, and, contrary to the moderate Conservatives, wanted the party to represent, as before 1914, the interests of landowners.
CNFR creation and SONFR presidency
After the creation of
Greater Romania
The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea.
As a concept, its main goal is the creation ...
, SONFR negotiated its collaboration with the secular wing of the women's movement. Cantacuzino herself became a member of the nation-wide Association for the Civil and Political Emancipation of Romanian Women (AECPFR), and unsuccessfully tried to absorb the smaller League for Women's Rights and Duties (LDDF) into SONFR.
In June 1919, she was also elected honorary president of the female section within the "Cross Brotherhood", founded by right-wing nationalist
Amos Frâncu at
Cluj
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Status
, subdivision_name2 = County seat
, settlement_type = City
, le ...
. In 1921, aiming to create an all-Romanian feminist representative body, she was made Vice President of the newly formed National Council of Romanian Women, CNFR; the President was
Calypso Botez, of SONFR fame. Around 1923, she was one of the conservative proponents of women's suffrage, criticizing the
postwar constitution for failing to enact it.
During those years, Cantacuzino worked as a permanent lecturer for ''Casele Naționale'' association. She took up similar activities at SONFR, where she lectured about the Orthodox and nationalist ethos, attracting into Society ranks many female members of the middle classes,
as well as new arrivals from the province of
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
:
Elena Alistar and
Iulia Siminel-Dicescu Iulia () is a feminine given name tracing back to the ancient Romans. It is still found in several contemporary languages such as Romanian. Another related name is Iuliana. Iulia may refer to:
Given name
*Iulia Aquilia Severa
*Iulia Berenice
*Iulia ...
.
It was Cantacuzino's stated goal that the "new world" of the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
signified the end of "doll-like women", of "women as eternal children", of "women as objects of pleasure"; a woman's new "gospel" was to be written among "morality in public life".
While advocating the emergence of a "mother-citizen" generation, she deplored the rapid
urbanization
Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...
of the age, claiming that village children were abandoning "the great reservoir of family life" so as to "quickly become Mr. and Mrs. this-and-that".
In contrast with the AECPFR, Cantacuzino and the CNFR represented a "national reformist" side of the feminist current. As Cheșchebec notes, such women intellectuals "aimed to appease fears of the destructive potential of feminist 'individualism', offering the 'acceptable' and 'nationally authentic' face of Romanian feminism." Their publicity efforts were fruitless, since: "despite ideological differences, all feminists aimed to alter the traditional family order. This common feature blurred the differences between various strands of feminism."
For Cantacuzino, Romanian Orthodoxy was "the blessed shield of the Romanian nation", with priests and women holding complementary positions as defenders of traditional life.
At SONFR, where she still invested most of her efforts,
she tackled generic Orthodox causes, such as taking sides with
Meletius IV, the
Ecumenical Patriarch
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
, in his conflict with
Kemalist Turkey. She was also strongly opposed to a
Concordat
A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...
between Romania and the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
, calling the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
an entity "entirely adverse" to the Romanian "unitary state", while referring to
Byzantine Rite Catholics as Orthodoxy's "brothers". Under her management, SONFR heralded a number of initiatives, including the creation of schools, hospitals, and workers' canteens.
Following its involvement in the work to recover and honor the remains of soldiers killed in battle, SONFR found itself locked in a bitter rivalry with the ''Cultul Eroilor'' ("Heroes' Cult") organization, although Cantacuzino served on the leadership boards of both organizations. According to historian
Maria Bucur
Maria Bucur (born 2 September 1968 in Bucharest, Romania) is an American-Romanian historian of modern Eastern Europe and gender in the twentieth century. She has written on the history of eugenics in Eastern Europe, memory and war in twentieth-cent ...
, Cantacuzino embarked on "a two-decade struggle to become the custodian of the public remembrance of the war."
[Bucur (2010), p.99] The way Cantacuzino saw it, the reburial of bones was an essentially female-and-Orthodox task, since women were traditionally experts in ''
parastas
A memorial service (Greek: μνημόσυνον, mnemósynon, "memorial"; Slavonic: панихида, panikhída, from Greek παννυχίς, ''pannychis'', "vigil"; Romanian: parastas and Serbian парастос, parastos, from Greek παρ ...
'' services. On such grounds, SONFR secured a virtual monopoly over the projects to honor those fallen in the
Battle of Mărășești
The Battle of Mărășești (6 August 1917 – 3 September 1917) was the last major battle between the German Empire and the Kingdom of Romania on the Romanian front during World War I. Romania was mostly occupied by the Central Powers, but th ...
, their identification, and their annual commemoration.
GFR and rise to prominence
![Alexandrina Gr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Alexandrina_Gr._Cantacuzino_in_Zamora.jpg)
Although a nationalist at home, Cantacuzino was soon involved in the international women's movement, often as a Romanian representative. It was part of her power-sharing deal with Botez that she should deal with the external affairs of CNFR. In 1923, she was the LDDF's delegate to the Congress
International Alliance of Women
The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...
(IAWSA, IAWSEC) Congress in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
[Cheșchebec (2006), p.91] While abroad, she created a female version of the
Little Entente
The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 Yugoslavia) with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revanchism and the prospect of a Hab ...
, of which she was President until 1924. Dubbed "
Little Entente of Women
Little Entente of Women (1923–1930) was an umbrella organization for women's groups in the Balkan region and one of the first organizations to try to reunite Eastern European women from the former Austro-Hungarian region to work on changing thei ...
" (''Mica Antantă a Femeilor'', MAF), or "Women of the Small Nations",
["Holds Many Offices"](_blank)
in ''The Trenton Sun'', April 29, 1926, p.2 it aligned Romanian feminist organizations with like-minded sororities from
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
. She was generally hostile to the
ethnic minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
,
but also interested in finding common ground with feminists from the
Transylvanian Saxon
The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ...
and
Hungarian communities, inviting them to the women's congress of 1925.
From 1925 to 1936, with a CNFR mandate, Cantacuzino served as Vice President of the
International Council of Women
The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., with ...
(ICW), and, as such became Romania's best-known feminist.
[Cheșchebec (2006), p.89, 91] She was one of the European delegates to ICW's 1925 Conference in
Washington, D. C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
By 1926, her distinctions included the Grand Cross of
Queen Marie, the
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic Church, Catholic order of ...
(Collar), the
Order of St. Sava
The Royal Order of St. Sava is an Order of merit, first awarded by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1883 and later by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was awarded to nationals and foreigners for meritorious ach ...
(Great Officer), the ''
Croix de guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
'' (Officer) and the ''
Croce al Merito di Guerra
The War Merit Cross ( it, Croce al Merito di Guerra) is an Italian military decoration. It was instituted by King Victor Emmanuel III during World War I on 19 January 1918. The award received major changes during World War II and is issued by the I ...
'' (Officer).
She was IWC delegate at the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
in 1927, and again in 1933, as well as IAWSEC rapporteur to the same international body (1926, 1928, 1933).
Drifting apart from both the LDDF and AECPFR, who accused her of using feminism to advance her own "internationalist" goals, Cantacuzino presided upon ''Solidaritatea'' ("Solidarity"), her very own feminist sorority, enlisting it with IAWSEC as a separate body.
Under the provisions of a law which allowed some women to run in local elections, Cantacuzino served on the Bucharest Financial Commission in 1927, and was a
City Councilor
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...
after 1928, helping to establish the CNFR-run
vocational school
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...
for female "
social auxiliaries".
[Cheșchebec (2006), p.92] She was dividing her time between Bucharest and Zamora Castle, where, in August 1928, her eldest son Gheorghe Grigore married Zoe Greceanu.
Cantacuzino immersed herself in the struggle for electoral emancipation, lobbying for women's right to vote and run in elections for urban and rural citizens' councils. To this goal, she created in 1929 an Association of Romanian Women (''Gruparea Femeilor Române'', GFR), of which she became President, while preserving control over CNFR and the smaller ''Solidaritatea''. One of the GFR's main goals, cemented in its charter, was "an active propaganda work, oral as well as written, among the feminine masses"; another one was the setting up of Initiative Committees for female representation.
[ Alexandra Petrescu]
"Femeile și politica autoritară"
in ''Sfera Politicii
''Sfera Politicii'' ( for "The Political Sphere") is a monthly political science magazine, published in Romania since 1991.
History and profile
''Sfera Politicii'' was first published in December 1991. The magazine is based in Bucharest. Its artic ...
'', Nr. 120-121-122/2006 However, the GFR remained highly centralized, and no clear criterion for admitting or rejecting membership was ever recorded in its statutes. Political scientist Alexandra Petrescu finds that the GFR, a "
matriarchal
Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property.
While those definitions apply in general E ...
" order, mimicked the "masculine hierarchy" of traditional political parties, effectively subverting the democratizing process of
first-wave feminism
First-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity and thought that occurred during the 19th and early 20th century throughout the Western world. It focused on legal issues, primarily on securing women's right to vote. The term is often used s ...
.
Cantacuzino participated in the grand rally of 150 women's societies, held at ''
Fundațiile Regale'', Bucharest, on April 28 of that year.
[Cheșchebec (2012), p.367] This resulted in a minor victory: a new law was passed in August 1929, allowing most professional women and all war widows to vote and participate in council elections. Her notoriety was reflected in other areas. She was the first-ever woman Officer of the ''
Meritul Cultural'' Order. In 1928, she was a
Miss Romania
Miss Universe România is a national beauty pageant that has selected Romania's representative to the Miss Universe pageant.
History
Miss România was initially established in the late 1920s, Magda Demetrescu won the first pageant in 1929. She ...
judge, together with, among others,
Nicolae Constantin Batzaria,
Maria Giurgea and
Liviu Rebreanu
Liviu Rebreanu (; November 27, 1885 – September 1, 1944) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist.
Life
Born in Felsőilosva (now Târlișua, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania), then part of the Kingd ...
. She also served as head of the Female Section during the June 1929 International Agricultural Congress.
Cantacuzino was co-opted among the official Romanian representatives to the League of Nations (uninterruptedly, from 1929 to 1938), primarily as adviser on women and child protection. Meanwhile, together with art historian
Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș
Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș (; also known as Al. Tzigara, Tzigara-Sumurcaș, Tzigara-Samurcash, Tzigara-Samurkasch or Țigara-Samurcaș; April 4, 1872 – April 1, 1952) was a Romanian art historian, Ethnography, ethnographer, Museology, museologi ...
, she set up a Union of Intellectuals at a formal gala in 1926. This circle was a local affiliate of Europe's Federation of Intellectual Unions, whose founders included
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.
Early life
Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...
,
Paul Valéry
Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...
and
Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu (; 4 March 1882 – 17 March 1941) was a Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, finance and foreign minister, and for two terms president of the General Assembly of the League of Nations (1930–32).
Early ye ...
, and whose stated mission was finding a solution to "the vital crisis of the continent". One of its members was journalist
Constantin Beldie, who left sarcastic notes about the Union's cultural conservatism. Received and celebrated in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
by Methodius Zavoral, Abbot of
Strahov Monastery
Strahov Monastery ( cs, Strahovský klášter) is a Premonstratensians, Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It is located in Strahov (district of Prague), Strahov, P ...
(1928), Cantacuzino was also a delegate to the Federation of Intellectual Unions Congress in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
(October 1929).
Fascist transformation
![Congres sub patronajul SONFR 1932](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Congres_sub_patronajul_SONFR_1932.jpg)
Beginning with the deaths of King Ferdinand and Brătianu, Romania went through a political power shift: in 1930, the junior king,
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantinopl ...
, was toppled by his own father, the disgraced
Carol II
Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. The eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I in 1914. He was the first of th ...
. In the realm of feminism, Cantacuzino rose to the position of CNFR President. This followed the protest resignation of Calypso Botez, part of an anti-Cantacuzino schism inside the CNFR. Also in 1930, Grigore Gheorghe Cantacuzino died, leaving Alexandrina a widow. She never remarried.
Over several years, Alexandrina Cantacuzino's nationalism mutated into
authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political '' status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...
. By then, the apparent successes of
Italian fascism, which probably impressed Cantacuzino during her visit to Rome,
had widened the fault line in the Romanian feminist movement. Cantacuzino was won over by the fascist critique of
liberal democracy
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into diff ...
, and, while still a feminist, began voicing support for an alternative to Romania's own liberal regime. Cantacuzino envisaged a
corporatist
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
monarchy, campaigned for a
technocratic
Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...
public administration service, and favored
disfranchising the poorly educated males (while enfranchising educated women).
As argued by Alexandra Petrescu, the GFR's ideology mutated into the "
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
" feminism promoted, on occasion, by
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
himself, with its vision of Latin women as equal combatants in a corporatist revolution.
This switch in allegiance was occurring just as the Little Entente of Women began fading into insignificance. Cantacuzino was vehemently opposed to the other delegates, including Greece's
Avra Theodoropoulou
Avra Theodoropoulou ( el, Αύρα Θεοδωροπούλου; 3 November 1880 – 20 January 1963) was a Greek music teacher, pianist, suffragist and women's rights activist. She founded the League for Women's Rights in 1920 and served as its ch ...
, over the issue of admitting women from
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
,
Republican Turkey and
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
.
The GFR, unlike all other feminist groups, banned women from enlisting in party politics, but encouraged them to run in municipal elections as they pleased.
According to Petrescu, this demand should be contrasted with the GFR's structure and goals, which, she argues, are those of an informal political party.
Cantacuzino voiced her ideas in the GFR and CNFR petitions of December 1930 and March 1932, while also asking that representatives of women's organizations be assigned seats in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
In 1933, she spoke in front of GFR members about the corporatist "reconstruction" of Romania, drafting out her own project for senatorial "corporatist elections" by men- and women-electors.
The immediate effect of such interventions was the creation of a GFR youth wing, ''Tinerele Grupiste'', likely modeled on Italy's ''
Gruppo Universitario Fascista Gruppo may refer to:
* groupset
A groupset or gruppo (from the Italian for "group", sometimes misspelled grouppo) is a bicycle component manufacturer's organized collection of mechanical parts. It generally refers to all of the components that ma ...
'' (but, unlike it, focused only on campaigns for
female employment).
Researchers are divided when it comes to evaluating the actual appeal of Cantacuzino's nationalist feminism. Bucur writes that "most feminists, like Alexandrina Cantacuzino, were also aggressive, even jingoistic nationalists". Contrarily, Petrescu notes: "Alexandrina Cantacuzino is the interwar's only feminist to have let herself be seduced by authoritarianism."
The AECPFR and other organizations repudiated Cantacuzino, declaring themselves for emancipation within the format of liberal democracy.
[Cheșchebec (2012), p.368] Occasionally, Cantacuzino herself still showed interest in the development of democratic societies: a guest of the Friends of America society on
Washington's Birthday
Presidents' Day, also called Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor all persons who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879 ...
, 1932, she lectured about "Different Aspects of American Life and Culture". Although no longer serving as ICW Vice President in 1936, she was made Convener of its Fine and Applied Arts Committee, as well as delegate to the Joint Conference of the International Council of Women and the International Council of Women in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
.
In January 1934,
Dimitrie Gusti
Dimitrie Gusti (; 13 February 1880 – 30 October 1955) was a Romanian sociologist, ethnologist, historian, and voluntarist philosopher; a professor at the University of Iaşi and the University of Bucharest, he served as Romania's Minister of ...
's Romanian Social Institute elected her on its steering committee.
At home, her eclectic feminist program included a project for making
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
services fully staffed by women, with the goal of achieving the total
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
of men.
Xenophobia
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
tinged Cantacuzino's writings from an early stage: in the early 1920s, she opined that "foreign-ism" was one of the factors working against female emancipation, having "dragged the tender soul that is womanhood out of her home and to purposeless partying."
However, her stated internationalism was rejected by even more radical SONFR nationalists. This
anti-Masonic wing of SONFR resigned in 1934, after Cantacuzino refused to testify, under oath, that she was not a covert
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
.
By 1937, in tune with the
National Christian Party
The National Christian Party ( ro, Partidul Național Creștin) was a radical-right authoritarian and strongly antisemitic political party in Romania active between 1935 and 1938. It was formed by a merger of Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Part ...
regime, Cantacuzino had embraced
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
,
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, and
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
. At a meeting in
Cluj
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Status
, subdivision_name2 = County seat
, settlement_type = City
, le ...
, she proposed the introduction of legislation banning all "foreigners" and minorities from marrying Romanian state employees, as well as 10-year reviews for all
Romanian citizenship applications.
Additionally, she and the GFR envisaged state bonuses for "eugenic" marriages between full-blooded Romanian youths.
Meanwhile, her connections in the international feminist movement became alarmed by the growth of antisemitic violence. In a December 1933 letter to Cantacuzino,
Cécile Brunschvicg
Cécile Brunschvicg (), born Cécile Kahn (19 July 1877 in Enghien-les-Bains – 5 October 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), was a French feminist politician. From the 1920s until her death she was regarded as "the ''grande dame'' of the feminist mov ...
inquired: "there is talk of terrible antisemitic campaigns in Romania, and of the development of a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
spirit in your country. Is this true?
..It would really be a deplorable if
he Nazispirit were to win over a Latin country that is so sane, and so very close to our hearts."
Between Carol and the Iron Guard
The
1938 Constitution seemed to agree with most of Cantacuzino's authoritarian-and-corporatist ideals, including women's suffrage with overall disenfranchisement, and even female conscription.
Transformed by King Carol's decrees into a corporatist chamber, and controlled by the
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front ( ro, Frontul Renașterii Naționale, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romani ...
, the Senate received its first female member,
Maria M. Pop, in 1939. She was not a GFR appointee, but rather an old AECPFR combatant.
For her part, Cantacuzino still held diplomatic assignments at the League of Nations, this time representing the Romanian government. She was tasked with improving the livelihoods of children and women affected by the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, proposing the creation of
neutral zones for children, and working on an internationally valid Children's Charter.
There were already signs that a rift was occurring between King Carol and the fascist feminists. In September 1938, Cantacuzino was a guest of honor at the
Mausoleum of Mărășești inauguration, where she spoke about SONFR's contribution to the "eternal remembrance" of World War I heroes; she also called to memory the "Glorious Reign" of King Ferdinand as a "Symbol of the Fatherland" and "the Soul among Souls". According to Bucur, the speech can be read as a jibe at both ''Cultul Eroilor'' and King Carol, whose conduct in wartime had been less than honorable.
At the GFR Congress in
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...
, Cantacuzino publicly complained that her goal of achieving women's suffrage had turned into a bitter victory.
It is unclear whether or not she supported the
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...
,
a rival, largely underground, fascist movement. Other members of the Cantacuzino clan were enthusiastic supporters. A distant relative, General
Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul, had been an associate of the Guard's leader
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; born Corneliu Codreanu, according to his birth certificate; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938) was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion ...
since 1933, and became the Guard's second-in-command from 1937. From 1935, Alexandrina's youngest son, Alexandru "Alecu" Cantacuzino, a former member of the diplomatic corps, was also attracted into this political venture. He wrote tracts disseminating the Iron Guard's ideology, focusing on praise of its "irrational and persistent impulse", but also relating to "
Jewish Bolshevism
Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an anti-communist and antisemitic canard, which alleges that the Jews were the originators of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and that they held primary power among the Bolsheviks who led the revo ...
", eugenics, race, and sexuality. In 1936, he was one of the Guard's volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, on the
Nationalist side. This episode upset his mother, who reportedly called his actions "idiotic".
Alecu returned home in February 1937, and given a hero's reception at the
Moța–Marin funeral. The Iron Guard accepted Alecu, but mistrusted Alexandrina, seeing her as a dangerous internationalist. In a 1937 letter (recovered and published in 2005), General Cantacuzino-Grănicerul threatens Alexandrina to stop intervening between him, Alecu, and Codreanu, accusing her of having "filled our Orthodox schools with kikes" and of "preach
ngan entente with the enemies of the people."
Before the close of 1938, King Carol's police forces clamped down on the Iron Guard, and killed Codreanu in custody. Alexandrina was placed her under surveillance, suspected of having helped the outlawed movement, while her GFR and ''Tinerele Grupiste'' were also outlawed.
Alecu was detained at the concentration camp in
Râmnicu Sărat
Râmnicu Sărat (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Sărat'', , german: Rümnick or ''Rebnick''; tr, Remnik) is a municipiu, city in Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It was first attested in a document of 1439, and raised to the ...
, where, unbeknown to his family, he was shot dead by the guards (September 22, 1939). Around October, rumors spread that Alexandrina and her other sons were also about to be interned; the authorities eventually decided to monitor Alexandrina by placing her under house arrest.
World War II and death
The final stage of Cantacuzino's career covers saw her collateral involvement in the political upheavals of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. During late 1940, Carol fell from power, and the Iron Guard established its "
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by ...
". At its helm was an army man and political maverick, ''
Conducător
''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu.
History
The word is derived from the Ro ...
''
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II.
A Romanian Army career officer who made ...
, on whose behalf Alexandrina Cantacuzino had intervened in the past.
[Constantin, p.116] As noted by Cheșchebec, Alecu's killing "apparently is not related to Cantacuzino's show of support for the legionary regime".
Her decision to join the Iron Guard was motivated, according to Bucur, by "sheer opportunism or because
hehoped to carve out a leading, powerful role in such a dynamic movement", and most likely not by fear of reprisals. Signs of this rapprochement are recorded in the Guard's newspapers: in 1940, ''
Porunca Vremii'' published
Lucrezzia Karnabatt's interview with Cantacuzino, where she described the political role of women in the National Legionary regime.
After the
January 1941 battle between the Guard and Antonescu, which was won by the latter, Cantacuzino endured an Antonescu supporter. By June, Antonescu had agreed to participate in
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
: as an ally of the
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, Romania recaptured the lost province of
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
. In an article for the official propaganda paper, ''
Universul
''Universul'' was a mass-circulation newspaper in Romania. It existed from 1884 to 1953, and was run by Stelian Popescu from 1914 to 1943 (with a two-year break during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbrevi ...
'', Cantacuzino celebrated "the holy hour" as the definitive end of "Jewish democracy", and envisaged a redemption of Europe under fascist rule. The Antonescu regime soon enforced
racial antisemitism
Racial antisemitism is prejudice against Jews based on a belief or assertion that Jews constitute a distinct race that has inherent traits or characteristics that appear in some way abhorrent or inherently inferior or otherwise different from ...
across the land. According to Alexandra Petrescu, the legislation introduced at the time was remarkably similar with the Cantacuzino project of 1937.
Cantacuzino was not an uncritical affiliate of Antonescu's policies, as she showed during her October 1941 visit
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, capital of newly occupied
Transnistria
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
. It took place just days after the Antonescu-ordered
massacre of Odessan Jews, of which she was informed by the
City Mayor,
Gherman Pântea
Gherman Vasile Pântea (; surname also spelled Pîntea; russian: Герман Васильевич Пынтя, translit=German Vasilyevich Pyntya; uk, Герман Васильович Пинтя, translit=Herman Vasylyovich Pyntia; May 13, 1894 ...
. Pântea believed the massacre to have been incidental, not deliberate. Using Cantacuzino as his messenger, asked Antonescu to punish the guilty parties and allow Jewish deportees back in Odessa. Pântea reports that Cantacuzino shared his belief that the massacre was going to weigh heavily on "the entire country", and that "an objective inquiry" was needed; he writes that Antonescu threatened to shoot him for disobedience, but that he changed his mind, and even that he lived to regret his order for massacre. Cantacuzino continued to intervene with Antonescu on other matters, such as when she obtained the naturalization of Pavel Chasovnikov, an Odessan surgeon.
Cantacuzino died in September, October,
or November 1944.
This was closely after
King Michael's Coup
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, which had resulted in Antonescu's arrest and the denunciation of Romania's Nazi alliance. Historian Ion Constantin claims that she committed suicide, "to avoid the torment of detention under the
Romanian communist regime".
Roxana Cheșchebec, however, records her death cause as "old age".
She was survived by Gheorghe Cantacuzino, who pursued a career in archeology,
epigraphy
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
, and
papyrology
Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...
; he died in 1977.
In the years following Alexandrina's death, Zamora Castle was
nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
, then assigned to the
Interior Ministry
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
; reclaimed by the Cantacuzinos after the
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...
, and finally reassigned to them in 2004, it was later sold to other private owners.
The Ciocănești manor, confiscated from Gheorghe Cantacuzino, was classified as a
historical monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
and
Writers' Union
The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...
vacation home, but not before being thoroughly devastated by the local trade unions. It was also nationalized in 1949, but continued to be looted after that date.
[Ion, p.281-282]
Notes
References
* Pia Alimănișteanu, ''Însemnări din timpul ocupației germane'', Independența, Bucharest, 1929
*
Constantin Bacalbașa
Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname.
For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name).
See also
* Constantine (name)
* Konstantin
The first name Konsta ...
, ''Bucureștii de altădată. Vol. IV: 1910–1914'',
Editura Ziarului ''Universul'', Bucharest, 1936
*
Lucian Boia
Lucian Boia (born 1 February 1944 in Bucharest) is a Romanian historian. He is mostly known for his debunking of historical myths about Romania, for purging mainstream Romanian history from the deformations due to ideological propaganda. I.e. as ...
, ''"Germanofilii". Elita intelectuală românească în anii Primului Război Mondial'',
Humanitas
''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below.
Classical origins of term
The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...
, Bucharest, 2010.
*
Maria Bucur
Maria Bucur (born 2 September 1968 in Bucharest, Romania) is an American-Romanian historian of modern Eastern Europe and gender in the twentieth century. She has written on the history of eugenics in Eastern Europe, memory and war in twentieth-cent ...
,
** "Romania", in Kevin Passmore (ed.), ''Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 1919–45'',
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with th ...
, Manchester, 2003, p. 57-78.
** ''Heroes and Victims: Remembering War in Twentieth-Century Romania'',
Indiana University Press
Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...
, Bloomington, 2010.
*
George Călinescu
George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent'',
Editura Minerva
Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books.
The company was founded in Bucharest in ...
, Bucharest, 1986
* Roxana Cheșchebec,
** "Cantacuzino, Princess Alexandrina", in Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi (eds.), ''Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms in Central and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries'',
Central European University Press
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...
, Budapest & New York City, 2006, p. 89-94.
** "The Achievement of Female Suffrage in Romania", in Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín (eds.), ''The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe: Voting to Become Citizens'',
Brill Publishers
Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ...
, Leiden, 2012, p. 357-372.
* Alin Ciupală, ''Femeia în societatea românească a secolului al XIX-lea'',
Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 2003
* Ion Constantin, ''Gherman Pântea între mit și realitate'', Editura Biblioteca Bucureștilor, Bucharest, 2010.
* Krassimira Daskalova, "Balkans", in Bonnie G. Smith (ed.), ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Volume I'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, Oxford etc., 2008, p. 185-195
* Georgeta Filitti
"Arhive bucureştene. Odobescu" in the Mihail Sadoveanu City Library ''Biblioteca Bucureștilor'', Nr. 8/2005, p. 6-9
* Narcis Dorin Ion
"Destinul unor reședințe aristocratice în primul deceniu al regimului comunist (1945–1955)" in ''Revista Monumentul'', Vol. IX: ''Monumentele si istoria lor'', 2008
*
Alexandru Marghiloman
Alexandru Marghiloman (4 July 1854 – 10 May 1925) was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 (March–October) as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I.
Early career
Born in Buz ...
''Note politice. IV'' Editura Institutului de Arte Grafice Eminescu, Bucharest, 1927 (digitized by
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...
)
*
Z. Ornea
Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
, ''Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească'',
Editura Fundației Culturale Române, Bucharest, 1995.
* Anca Podgoreanu, Geta Costache, ''Al. Tzigara-Samurcaș'', Ex-Ponto, Constanța, 2004.
* Mariu Theodorian-Carada, ''Efemeridele. Însemnări & amintiri: 1908–1928'', Serafica, Săbăoani, 1937
* Ottmar Trașcă, Robert Born
"Das Deutsche Reich, die Legionärsbewegung und die Ermordung des Ministerpräsidenten Armand Călinescu" in ''Revista Arhivelor'', Nr. 2/2008, p. 264-307
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantacuzino, Alexandrina
1876 births
1944 deaths
Fascist politicians
20th-century Romanian women politicians
Romanian educational theorists
Romanian philanthropists
Romanian feminists
Romanian women's rights activists
Romanian suffragists
Romanian expatriates in Spain
Children's rights activists
Romanian women diplomats
Red Cross personnel
League of Nations people
Romanian propagandists
Romanian eugenicists
Romanian fascists
Critics of the Catholic Church
Members of the Iron Guard
20th-century Romanian politicians
Christian fascists
Eastern Orthodoxy and far-right politics
People from Dâmbovița County
Romanian adoptees
Alexandrina
Alexandrina
Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian hospital administrators
Romanian nurses
Female nurses in World War I
Romanian people of World War I
Romanian people of the Spanish Civil War
Romanian women in World War II
Women in the Spanish Civil War
Romanian women in World War I
Great Officers of the Order of St. Sava
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
Recipients of the War Cross for Military Valor