Dora d'Istria
Encyclopedia
Dora d'Istria pen-name of duchess Helena Koltsova-Massalskaya, born Elena Ghica, was a Romania
n Romantic
writer and feminist
.
as a member of the Ghica family
(the daughter of Mihai Ghica and the niece of the reigning Prince Grigore IV Ghica
), she received a thorough education, continued abroad—first at Dresden
, then at Vienna
, Venice
and Berlin
, where she gave a sample of her mastery of the ancient Greek language to Alexander Von Humboldt
.
D'Istria returned to her home country in 1849, married the Russian duke Alexander Koltsov-Massalski, and lived for several years in Russia, mostly in Saint Petersburg
, but never cherished the Russian nationalist
views of her husband, nor the Eastern Orthodox bigotry
at the Court of the despotic
Emperor Nicholas
. As her health decayed in the Russian climate, she took her husband's advice and headed for Central Europe
, first to Switzerland
for several years, then to a journey through Greece
and Anatolia
. Finally, she returned to Italy
, living in a villa
in Florence
, sporadically traveling to France
, Ireland
and the United States
.
As a writer (under the name d'Istria, mostly in French
), she was first noticed in 1855. She published a number of works that not only showed her proficiency in Romanian
, Italian
, German
, French
, Latin
, Ancient and Modern Greek
and Russian
, but also her knowledge of scientific topics, her liberal
views on religious and political topics, as well as talent for presenting her points. Her general stance was cosmopolitan
, but she viewed as her main duty to make the sources of Western civilization
to the East, and working towards the emancipation of her gender.
She died in Florence.
1855; 2.Ed., Paris
1858), where she called for the abolishment of monastic orders. It was followed by La Suisse allemande - "German Switzerland" (Geneva
1856, 4 Vols.; German, 2. Ed., Zürich
1860, 3 Vols.), a description of country and people of Switzerland, with a portion describing a climb up the Mönch
.
In the tract Les femmes en Orient - "Women in the Orient" (Zür. 1859, 2 Vols.), she spoke out for the emancipation of women in the Levant
; in another, Des femmes, par une femme - "About Women, by a Woman" (2. Ed., Brussels 1869, 2 Vols.), she compared the situation of women in Latin Europe
with that in Germany
, and demanded with strong words the equal treatment of men and women. Before this volume, the Excursions en Rouméllie et en Morée - "Excursions in Rumelia
and Morea
" (Zürich 1863, 2 Vols.) were published, where she tried to show that Ancient Greece
had the same civilizatory task as the Germany of her time.
She also published the narrative Au bord des lacs helvétiques – "Sailing the Swiss Lakes" (Geneva 1861), the novels Fylétia e Arbenoré prèj Kanekate laoshima (Livorno
1867), Gli Albanesi in Rumenia, a history of the dukes of Ghica
- her own family - in the 17th to 19th centuries (2. Ed., Florence 1873), and La poésie des Ottomans (2. Ed., Paris 1877), as well as numerous writings on literary history, poetics, political, social and religious questions, history, art etc. in renown French journals (especially in the Revue des Deux Mondes
), the Belgian
Libre Recherche, Italian Diritto, Antologia nuova, Rivista europea etc. and Swiss, Greek
, Romania
n and American journals.
D'Istria was also a painter
. She was a member of many scholarly societies, such as the Italian academy; she was also named honorary citizen by the Greek parliament
and many Italian cities.
She was also a mountaineer
, making an early female ascent of Mont Blanc
, on June 1, 1860. As noted, she wrote a description of her climb of Mönch
.
For Dora d'Istria (Elena Ghica's nom de plume), the crumbly theory of an Albanian origin of the family's founder, resurrected after several centuries of latent existence, proved to be very lucrative: it gave a new sense for her Romantic involvement in the Balkan people's emancipation struggle
(having previously adopted - and later abandon - a Hellenophile attitude, by courtesy of her Greek maternal ancestry and under the influence of her Greek tutor Gregorios Pappadopoulos), as well as in her anti-establishment attitude generated by the entrenching of the Hohenzollern
in the Romanian Principality to the detriment of her family who had high hopes for a return on the throne.
She started learning Albanian history
, and eventually became - since 1866 - the main advocate in Western Europe
of the Albanian cause, despite the fact that she never knew or learned the Albanian language.
Her book, Gli Albanesi in Rumenia. Storia dei principi Ghika, which upon its publication in 1873 in Florence
caused the wrath of her family, repudiating
her, managed to forever shift the public perception towards the Albanian theory for the origin the family, at the expense of the Aromanian one.
The book was preceded by a series of articles on the nationalities from South-Eastern Europe and their struggle for independence. After articles on the Romanian (1859), Greek
(1860) and Serbian
(1865) ethnic identity, Dora d'Istria published in 1866 the article entitled The Albanian nationality according to folksongs. The study was translated into Albanian in 1867 by the Italo-Albanian patriot Dhimitër Kamarda
, and was prefaced by a poem with a revolutionary content, written by an Albanian author and addressed to his countrymen, urging them to rise up against the Ottomans.
Henceforth, Dora d'Istria became known in Albanians nationalist circles which did not hesitate to make use of her name for gaining support for their cause. This situation was accepted and nurtured in her writings (most notably in her correspondence), and she cultivated a relationship with notable Albanian patriots such as Kamarda and Jeronim de Rada. After the publication of Gli Albanesi in Romania..., the Albanian nationalists in Italy
proceeded to declare Elena Ghica as the uncrowned queen
of Albania.
These speculations were tacitly entertained by Elena Ghica; similarly, other members of the family were drawn into this Albanian nationalistic tradition: at the end of the century, another member of the family, Romanian writer and socialite Albert Ghica
would likewise key up vocal demands for the Albanian throne.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
writer and feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
.
Early life
Born in BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
as a member of the Ghica family
Ghica family
The Ghica family were a Romanian noble family, active in Wallachia, Moldavia and in the Kingdom of Romania. In the 18th century, several branches of the family went through a process of Hellenization...
(the daughter of Mihai Ghica and the niece of the reigning Prince Grigore IV Ghica
Grigore IV Ghica
Grigore IV Ghica or Grigore Dimitrie Ghica was Prince of Wallachia between 1822 and 1828. A member of the Ghica family, Grigore IV was the brother of Alexandru Ghica and the uncle of Dora d'Istria....
), she received a thorough education, continued abroad—first at Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, then at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where she gave a sample of her mastery of the ancient Greek language to Alexander Von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
.
D'Istria returned to her home country in 1849, married the Russian duke Alexander Koltsov-Massalski, and lived for several years in Russia, mostly in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, but never cherished the Russian nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
views of her husband, nor the Eastern Orthodox bigotry
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
at the Court of the despotic
Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
Emperor Nicholas
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
. As her health decayed in the Russian climate, she took her husband's advice and headed for Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, first to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
for several years, then to a journey through Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. Finally, she returned to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, living in a villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, sporadically traveling to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
As a writer (under the name d'Istria, mostly in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
), she was first noticed in 1855. She published a number of works that not only showed her proficiency in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Ancient and Modern Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, but also her knowledge of scientific topics, her liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
views on religious and political topics, as well as talent for presenting her points. Her general stance was cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
, but she viewed as her main duty to make the sources of Western civilization
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
to the East, and working towards the emancipation of her gender.
She died in Florence.
In culture
Her first work was La vie monastique dans l'Église orientale – "Monastical Life in the Eastern Church" (BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
1855; 2.Ed., Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
1858), where she called for the abolishment of monastic orders. It was followed by La Suisse allemande - "German Switzerland" (Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
1856, 4 Vols.; German, 2. Ed., Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
1860, 3 Vols.), a description of country and people of Switzerland, with a portion describing a climb up the Mönch
Mönch
The Mönch is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains visible from far away....
.
In the tract Les femmes en Orient - "Women in the Orient" (Zür. 1859, 2 Vols.), she spoke out for the emancipation of women in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
; in another, Des femmes, par une femme - "About Women, by a Woman" (2. Ed., Brussels 1869, 2 Vols.), she compared the situation of women in Latin Europe
Latin Europe
Latin Europe is a loose term for the region of Europe with an especially strong Latin cultural heritage inherited from the Roman Empire.-Application:...
with that in Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, and demanded with strong words the equal treatment of men and women. Before this volume, the Excursions en Rouméllie et en Morée - "Excursions in Rumelia
Rumelia
Rumelia was an historical region comprising the territories of the Ottoman Empire in Europe...
and Morea
Morea
The Morea was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It also referred to a Byzantine province in the region, known as the Despotate of Morea.-Origins of the name:...
" (Zürich 1863, 2 Vols.) were published, where she tried to show that Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
had the same civilizatory task as the Germany of her time.
She also published the narrative Au bord des lacs helvétiques – "Sailing the Swiss Lakes" (Geneva 1861), the novels Fylétia e Arbenoré prèj Kanekate laoshima (Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
1867), Gli Albanesi in Rumenia, a history of the dukes of Ghica
Ghica family
The Ghica family were a Romanian noble family, active in Wallachia, Moldavia and in the Kingdom of Romania. In the 18th century, several branches of the family went through a process of Hellenization...
- her own family - in the 17th to 19th centuries (2. Ed., Florence 1873), and La poésie des Ottomans (2. Ed., Paris 1877), as well as numerous writings on literary history, poetics, political, social and religious questions, history, art etc. in renown French journals (especially in the Revue des Deux Mondes
Revue des deux mondes
The Revue des deux Mondes is a French language monthly literary and cultural affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829....
), the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Libre Recherche, Italian Diritto, Antologia nuova, Rivista europea etc. and Swiss, Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n and American journals.
D'Istria was also a painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. She was a member of many scholarly societies, such as the Italian academy; she was also named honorary citizen by the Greek parliament
Hellenic Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament , also the Parliament of the Hellenes, is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House , overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece....
and many Italian cities.
She was also a mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
, making an early female ascent of Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...
, on June 1, 1860. As noted, she wrote a description of her climb of Mönch
Mönch
The Mönch is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains visible from far away....
.
The Albanian cause
The family's history and fame, as well as it's putative Albanian origins, are mostly known to the Western readers from Princess Elena Ghica's memories, Gli Albanesi in Rumenia. Storia dei principi Ghika ("The Albanians in Romania. The history of the Ghica Princes").For Dora d'Istria (Elena Ghica's nom de plume), the crumbly theory of an Albanian origin of the family's founder, resurrected after several centuries of latent existence, proved to be very lucrative: it gave a new sense for her Romantic involvement in the Balkan people's emancipation struggle
Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire
The rise of the Western notion of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire eventually caused the break-down of the Ottoman millet concept...
(having previously adopted - and later abandon - a Hellenophile attitude, by courtesy of her Greek maternal ancestry and under the influence of her Greek tutor Gregorios Pappadopoulos), as well as in her anti-establishment attitude generated by the entrenching of the Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
in the Romanian Principality to the detriment of her family who had high hopes for a return on the throne.
She started learning Albanian history
History of Albania
The history of Albania emerges from the prehistoric stage from the 4th century BC, with early records of Illyria in Greco-Roman historiography. The modern territory of Albania has no counterpart in antiquity, comprising parts of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia , Macedonia , and Moesia Superior...
, and eventually became - since 1866 - the main advocate in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
of the Albanian cause, despite the fact that she never knew or learned the Albanian language.
Her book, Gli Albanesi in Rumenia. Storia dei principi Ghika, which upon its publication in 1873 in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
caused the wrath of her family, repudiating
Disownment
Disownment is the formal act or condition of forcibly renouncing or no longer accepting one's consanguineous child as a member of one's family or kin...
her, managed to forever shift the public perception towards the Albanian theory for the origin the family, at the expense of the Aromanian one.
The book was preceded by a series of articles on the nationalities from South-Eastern Europe and their struggle for independence. After articles on the Romanian (1859), Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
(1860) and Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
(1865) ethnic identity, Dora d'Istria published in 1866 the article entitled The Albanian nationality according to folksongs. The study was translated into Albanian in 1867 by the Italo-Albanian patriot Dhimitër Kamarda
Dhimiter Kamarda
Demetrio Camarda was an Arbëreshë linguist, patriot of the arbëreshë, and publisher of Albanian folklore, with scientific knowledge also in the field of Indo-European linguistics. He was the follower of the work already performed by Jeronim De Rada...
, and was prefaced by a poem with a revolutionary content, written by an Albanian author and addressed to his countrymen, urging them to rise up against the Ottomans.
Henceforth, Dora d'Istria became known in Albanians nationalist circles which did not hesitate to make use of her name for gaining support for their cause. This situation was accepted and nurtured in her writings (most notably in her correspondence), and she cultivated a relationship with notable Albanian patriots such as Kamarda and Jeronim de Rada. After the publication of Gli Albanesi in Romania..., the Albanian nationalists in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
proceeded to declare Elena Ghica as the uncrowned queen
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....
of Albania.
These speculations were tacitly entertained by Elena Ghica; similarly, other members of the family were drawn into this Albanian nationalistic tradition: at the end of the century, another member of the family, Romanian writer and socialite Albert Ghica
Albert Ghica
Albert Ghica was a Romanian writer and socialite. He was a member of the Ghica noble family. Later in life he changed his name to the Albanian form Gjika, for more credentials in his quest for the Albanian throne.He was a pretender to the Albanian throne...
would likewise key up vocal demands for the Albanian throne.
External links
- Liviu Bordas, Dor de Dunăre şi alte nostalgii cosmopolite - Preţul cosmopolitismului in Observator CulturalObservator CulturalObservator Cultural is a literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania. It covers Romania's cultural and arts scene.-External links:*...
(in Romanian)