Princess Elena Bibescu (1855 – October 18, 1902) was a

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

n noblewoman and pianist, regarded as one of the greatest pianists of Europe in the nineteenth century. In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, she became famous for being an outstanding pianist, but also for being a protector of culture. Princess Bibescu held, for three decades, one of the most prestigious salons of Paris in the second half of the 19th century. Marcel Proust, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner,

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica El ...

Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...

, Claude Debussy and

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

were just a few of the great European personalities who frequented the famous artistic salon.

Career

She was born Elena Epureanu in 1855 in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a municipiu, city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river S ...

, at the time in the

Principality 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 Central ...

. Her father was

Manolache Costache Epureanu Manolache Costache Epureanu (1823–1880) was twice the Prime Minister of Romania both as a representative of the Conservative Party and of the National Liberal Party, more specifically for the first time in 1870 (20 April–14 December) and fo ...

, who later became

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was ...

. She married , with whom she had 3 children: Antoine, Emmanuel, and Hélène. Elena Bibescu debuted on February 14, 1873 in

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 ...

, in a charity concert held at Grand Theatre of Bucharest, in the presence of

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 ...

Carol I and Queen Elisabeth of Romania. Elena Bibescu was a protectress of

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

, alongside Queen Elisabeth, and promoted the Romanian musician among the French elite. In 1954, more than 5 decades after her death, Enescu dedicated to her memory the symphonic poem, '' Vox Maris''. She was a student of the pivotal figure of

Russian culture Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and ph ...

, pianist and composer

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...

at the Vienna Conservatory, one of the most prestigious institutions of its kind in the world. Elena Bibescu brilliantly graduated from the Vienna Conservatory, where she was awarded a medal and a diploma of honor. After returning to Romania in October 1902 and residing in the family's manor in Epureni, a few kilometers away from Bârlad, Elena was transported to Iași after falling ill from cancer. She died shortly afterward on 18 October 1902.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bibescu, Princess Elena 1855 births 1902 deaths People from Bârlad University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Romanian pianists Romanian women pianists 19th-century pianists 19th-century Romanian women musicians Women classical pianists Deaths from cancer in Romania 19th-century women pianists