- Elena Cuza
Elena Cuza (also known under her semi-official title Elena Doamna;
June 17 ,1825 —April 2 ,1909 ) was aMoldavia n-bornRomania nnoblewoman and philanthropist, the wife ofAlexander John Cuza .Biography
The daughter of "postelnic" Iordache Rosetti (a high-ranking
boyar of theRosetti family , she was also closely related to the Sturdzas and other families of boyars. Born in Soleşti,Vaslui County , she married Cuza in 1844 — their relationship soured soon after, as Elena was not able to bear a child. However, she later raised as her own children his two sons by his mistress, Elena Maria Catargiu-Obrenović.She remained, however, very devoted to her husband in their public life, and was responsible for securing his flight from the country in 1848, after Prince
Mihail Sturdza began arresting participants in the Moldavian revolutionary movement. They returned after the start ofGrigore Alexandru Ghica 's rule, but Elena suffered from depression after Cuza began engaging in adulterous affairs and left forParis ,France until 1853. After her return, she became almost completely estranged from her husband, who kept as his mistress Elena Maria Catargiu-Obrenović, the mother of Milan Obrenović (future Prince of Serbia).Elena left for Paris and remained there until 1862, long after the "ad hoc Divan" had elected Cuza ruler; she had been persuaded to do so by the writer and political figure
Vasile Alecsandri , who tried to extinguish the scandal provoked by Cuza's marital neglect. As wife of the head of state, she became noted for her charity work (the building of the Elena Doamna Asylum inCotroceni ,Bucharest ) and adopted orphans, including the illegitimate children of her husband —Alexandru Al. Ioan Cuza andDimitrie Cuza ; Elena Cuza took over, furnished, and maintained the private residence in Ruginoasa,Iaşi County , and was responsible for the Neo-gothic style of its decorations.During the "coup d'état" against her husband (
February 22 ,1866 ), she was isolated in her apartments by the conspirators, who burst in on Cuza as he was spending the night with Maria Catargi-Obrenović. Both she and Maria joined Cuza in his Europeanexile . After her husband's death in 1873, she took care of their children, and lived to see the death of her two adoptive sons (Alexandru, was the husband of Maria Moruzi - she was later married, for just one day, with the National Liberal leaderIon I. C. Brătianu , and gave birth to the historian and politicianGheorghe I. Brătianu ).References
*ro icon [http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi1998/current1/mi7.htm Radu R. Florescu, "Elena Cuza - dincolo de legendă"] , in "Magazin Istoric", January 1998
*Petre Otu,"«Adevărul rămâne oricare ar fi soarta celor care l-au servit». Gh.I.Brătianu — un istoric printre politicieni", in "Dosarele Istoriei", 1/VI, 2001
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