Hélène Vacaresco
Hélène Vacaresco , Romanian Elena Văcărescu (born September 21, 1864 in Bucharest , † February 17, 1947 in Paris ) was a Romanian-French writer and two-time winner of the Académie française . She was appointed "Ambassador of Romanian Culture" by French Foreign Ministers Joseph Paul-Boncour and Paul Éluard .
Life
Hélène was a daughter of the Romanian boyar Ioan Văcărescu, who fell in the Russo-Ottoman War (1877–1878) , and his wife Eufrosina Fălcoianu, a descendant of the Prince of Wallachia , Mihai Viteazul . She was the granddaughter of the poet Iancu Văcărescu (1786–1863). She grew up on the family estate near Târgovişte and was taught exclusively at home by governesses and tutors with the help of her father's library . In addition to geography , history , mathematics , art , dance and music , Hélène also learned French and English .
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In the 1880s Vacaresco studied French literature at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris , where she also met Victor Hugo . At the same time she also attended courses in philosophy , aesthetics and history , but also poetry under the direction of the writer and first Nobel Prize winner for literature Sully Prudhomme .
In 1888 Vacaresco was invited to the royal palace of Bucharest by the Romanian Queen Elisabeth , also known under her pseudonym Carmen Silva , due to her literary successes . After the early death of her daughter Maria (1870–1874 from scarlet fever ), the monarch transferred her maternal love to the young writer. In the following years she established herself as their lady of honor and accompanied them on their trips to Germany , Austria , Great Britain , Spain , Portugal , Russia and Serbia . In 1889 Vacaresco fell in love with the German-born Prince Ferdinand von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1865–1927), a nephew and heir to the throne of King Charles I , and in May 1891 they celebrated their engagement . But according to the Constitution of 1866, the Romanian heir to the throne was forbidden from marrying a local. As a result of these events, Queen Elizabeth, who approved the love affair, was sent abroad on the pretext of a nervous problem. While Vacaresco was living in exile in Paris , Prince Ferdinand - the second son of Prince Leopold von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and the Infanta Antonia Maria of Portugal from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - married Princess Marie of Edinburgh , the granddaughter of the British Queen , in 1893 Victoria and the Russian Tsar Alexander II was.
In her house on Rue Washington , Hélène Vacaresco ran a successful literary salon and published some of her articles in French magazines, including " Revue des deux mondes ", " Revue de Paris ", " L'Illustration ", " Le Figaro " , " The Contemporary Revue " and " The Magasine ". She has also worked as a translator for Mihai Eminescu , Lucian Blaga , Octavian Goga , George Topîrceanu , Ion Minulescu and Ion Vinea .
Offices and honors
- 1912 co-founder of the "Cercle des Annales"
- 1919 member of the Romanian delegation à la Conference de Paix de Paris
- 1925 member of the Académie Roumaine
- 1925 two awards from the Académie Français (for the poems Les Chants d'Aurore and Le Rhapsode de la Dâmbovitza )
- 1927 Award of the Legion d'Honneur
- 1930 representative de l'Éducation Nationale Français dans le jury de la Société «Latinitas»
- 1945 cultural attaché of the Légation de Roumanie et déléguée pour l'institut International de Coopération International
Primary literature
Poems
- 1886 Chants d'Aurore
- 1896 L'âme sereine
- 1903 Lueurs et Flammes
- 1908 Le Jardin passioné
- 1914 La Dormeuse éveillée
Folk songs
- 1889 Le Rhapsode de la Dâmbovița
- 1907 Nuits d'Orient
- 1927 Dans l'or du soir
Novels
- 1908 Cupid Vincent
- 1911 Le Sortilege
Autobiographies
- 1945 Memorial sur le mode mineur
- Le Roman de ma vie
- [Autobiography], in: Elga Kern (Hrsg.): Leading women in Europe . In 25 self-descriptions. New episode. Munich: E. Reinhardt, 1930, pp. 187–193
Plays
- Stana , 1904
- Pe urma dragostei
Web links
- Elena Văcărescu (Hélène Vacaresco) ( Memento of March 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (French)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vacaresco, Helene |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Văcărescu, Elena |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Romanian-French writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 21, 1864 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bucharest |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 17, 1947 |
| Place of death | Paris |