| Short name |
Elena Ghica |
| VIAF |
|
| First name |
Elena |
| Birth name |
Ghica |
| Married name |
|
| Alternative name |
Dora D'Istria
,
Elena Koltsov - Massalsky
,
Elena Ghika
,
Helena Koltsova - Massalskaya
|
| Date of birth |
1828 |
| Date of death |
1888 |
| Flourishing |
- |
| Sex |
Female |
| Place of birth |
Romania |
| Place of death |
Firenze (ITA) |
| Lived in |
Russia
,
Switzerland
,
Germany
,
France
|
| Place of residence notes |
|
| Related to |
Ecaterina Faca
,
Arsinoi Papadopoulou
,
Fredrika Bremer
,
Maria Louise de La Ramée
|
| Bibliography |
MENTIONED IN:
- Dictionnaire des contemporains, Vapereau, Louis Gustave: Hachette, Paris, 1858, p. 553.
- Bartolomeo Cecchetti, Dora d’Istria (Notizie biografiche), Venezia, 1868
- Buck, Guide to women's literature, 1992: "[...] devoted to the causes of national minorities "
- McFadden, Golden Cables: Matrix, 189
- Dicționarul general al literaturii române, București, Ed. Univers Enciclopedic, 2004, pp. 719-721
- De Haan a.o., A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms. CEU press, 2006. Cf.
- Cecchetti, Bibliografia della Principessa Elena Ghika
- Dora d’Istria, Venezzia, 1868; Firenze, 1873 - Angelo de Gubernatis Dizionario de scrittori contemporanei, Firenze, 1879,p. 386
- Idem, « Dora d’Istria », Revue internationale, Rome, t. XXI, 10 janvier 1889, pp. 58-74
- Paolo Mantegazza, Le donne del mio tempo. Una principessa, Roma, 1905
- Antonio d’Alessandri, Il pensiero e l’opera di Dora d’Istria fra Oriente Europeo e Italia ( pref. Francesco Guida), Roma, Gangemi, 2007
- Petre Ciureanu, « Dora d’Istria », Revue des études roumaines, no. 2, 1954, Paris, pp. 169-192; no. 3-4, 1957, pp. 82-110.
- Armand Pommier, Profils contemporains – Mme la Comtesse Dora d’Istria (Paris: Lécrivain Toubon, 1863)
- Cristia Maksutovici and Georgeta Penelea-Filitti, Dora d’Istria (Bucuresti: Criterion, 2004)
- Antonio D'Alessandri, "Il pensiero e l’opera di Dora d’Istria fra Oriente europeo e Italia", Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano, Biblioteca scientifica, Serie II: Memorie, vol. 54, Roma, 2007. |
| Provisional Notes |
Cf. Corresp. G. Sand, t. 14. - 1 letter, not extant.
- Born in Bucharest, Romania. She was a member of the Ghica family - niece of the reigning Prince Grigore IV Ghica. - Wife of the Russian duke Alexander Koltsov-Massalski.
Daughter of ban Mihail Ghica and of Catinca Ghica, she was also the niece of reigning Wallachian prince Grigore IV Ghica (1822-1828).
In 1842, she was exiled along with her family, and in 1848, in Potsdam, at Friedrich Wilhelm IV’s court, she met Alexander von Humboldt, in whose presence she was asked to translate an Ancient Greek inscription – which she did successfully. In 1849, after returning to Romania, in Moldavia, she married Russian duke Alexander Koltsov-Massalski and lived in Russia until 1855. There is no clear explanation as to why she left him. According to some, she never came to terms with the conservative views of the Russian Imperial Court and, on one occasion, was physically admonished in a well-described manner. Such accounts, however, are nowhere to be found in contemporary sources and are likely legends tailored to go hand-in-hand with her later activity. In 1855, she went to Switzerland, where she became the first woman to climb to the top of the Moench, in the Alps. In 1860 she moved to Italy: she lived in Turin and Genoa, before finally moving to Florence, where she lived in a villa later called “Villa d’Istria”. She died there on November 17, 1888.
Duchess Helena Koltsova-Massalskaya, born Elena Ghica, and known also as Dora D'Istria was a Romanian - Albanian Romantic writer and a feminist. She was known for her wide knowledge of scientific topics, and her liberal views on religious and political issues. She was widely known also for her writing talent and dedication to the emancipation of women. -She strongly supported Albanian writers and patriots during the 19th century in their work for independence and literary achievements, and became probably the main advocate of the Albanian cause in the Western Europe.
info Bavjola Shatro sept13
According to the Italian translator of Dora d’Istria’s works, Bartolomeo Cecchetti, her writings could be divided into 9 categories: 1. literary history (Balkan folk poetry, literary portraits); 2. religious issues; 3. social issues (feminism); 4. political economy and agriculture; 5. artistic issues. 6. politics; 7. history; 8. poetry; 9. Oriental lifestyle. Some commentators dismissed her endeavors as “superficial” – however, one could consider that she was in many ways a pioneer. In those days, the peoples in the Balkans were relatively unknown to the Western public, which spurred Dora d’Istria (who had named herself after the ancient god of the Danube, Istros) to offer a vast and accurate image of this area. As such, she contributed with many studies to the Revue des Deux Mondes. While her works on Romanian subjects were certainly patriotic, she did warn people not to exaggerate and become xenophobic, since “the idea of patriotism should work hand-in-hand with the idea of mankind”.
languages: in the memorial art in Poikili Stoa Almanac after her death the journalist mentions that Ghica knew very well French, German, Italian, Modern Greek (spoken), see art Doradistria in Poikili Stoa almanac, vol. 8, no.1, 1889, Athens (av apr12)
Lived in: Prussia | Russia | Switzerland | Italy. Died in Florence.
Translator from Ancient Greek, travel writer.
MENTIONED IN: - Offen, European feminisms, 2000, p.153: contributing to the 1884 book Woman’s question
Cf.Gothenburg2020: Carmen Dutu |