Maria Rosetti

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the Romanian aristocrat and royal court official, see Maria Tescanu Rosetti.
Constantin Daniel Rosenthal's portrait of Maria Rosetti[1]

Maria Rosetti (born Marie Grant; 1819 – February 25 [

Ion Brătianu. The Rosettis were parents to eight sons: Mircea, Ion, Vintilă (journalist and writer), Horia
, Elena-Maria, Toni, Floricel and Libertatea Sophia, all of whom were noted for their political activities.

Biography

Born to Captain Edward Grant, a ship-owning resident of Guernsey, and his Guernsey wife Marie Le Lacheur, Marie belonged to the Church of England.[2] The Grants, who eventually settled in Plymouth, claimed lineage from the Scottish Clan Grant of Cannon, but this is uncertain.[3]

Life

In 1837, her younger brother Effingham was appointed secretary of

tutor.[4] It was then that she met Rosetti, Effingham Grant's close friend and a member of the Rosetti family of boyars, who fell in love with her.[5] Mary Grant was employed by the family of Wallachian Militia Colonel Ioan Odobescu, and gave lessons to his children—including his son Alexandru, the future writer and politician.[5] At the time, she was residing in the Bucharest area around Curtea Veche.[5]

Grant married C. A. Rosetti at her family's house in Plymouth, with an

Alexandru Golescu, who were the couple's godfathers.[5] According to historian Paul Cernovodeanu, she met difficulty in integrating boyar society, but "[her] innate qualities, noble demeanor, intelligence and culture did not fail [...] to impose her".[5]

Revolutionary Romania, painted by Rosenthal in homage to Rosetti[1]

During the 1848 revolution, her husband played a prominent part in rallying the Bucharest populace to the radical cause, and sat on the Provisional Government. As

Jewish Constantin Daniel Rosenthal, Maria followed the ships on shore; upon arrival, she pointed out to the local authorities that the Ottomans had stepped out of their jurisdiction, persuading the mayor of Sviniţa to disarm the guards, which in turn allowed the prisoners to flee.[7] The Rosettis then made their way to France.[8] Her role in this last stage of the revolution was celebrated by French historian Jules Michelet in his 1851 essay Madame Rosetti,[9] and by her husband, who compared her to Anita, the Brazilian-born wife of Italian insurgent Giuseppe Garibaldi.[10]

Around 1850, Rosenthal completed one of his most celebrated paintings, România revoluţionară ("Revolutionary Romania").[1] A national personification showing a woman in Romanian folk costume, it was also a portrait of Maria Rosetti.[10][11] The artist died in July 1851, after his attempt to cross into Wallachia was intercepted by Austrian authorities, who tortured him to death in his native Budapest.[12] In 1878, Maria Rosetti authored a piece for her Mama şi Copilul ("Mother and Child") magazine, in which she offered praise to her deceased friend: "[Rosenthal was] one of the best and the most loyal people that God created after His image. He died for Romania, for its liberties; he died for his Romanian friends. [...] This friend, this son, this martyr of Romania is an Israelite. His name was Daniel Rosenthal."[13]

Maria Rosetti (right) and Pia Brătianu

During the 1850s, before and after the

Prince, and subsequently Domnitor of the two states).[14] She was a collaborator on C. A. Rosetti's numerous publications, including Românul, before issuing her own weekly magazine, Mama şi Copilul.[15][16] The latter, which mostly featured advice on educating young children, and motivated by the concern that the society had changed after union,[17] was only published between 1865 and 1866. Such activities give Rosetti a claim to the title of Romania's first female journalist, ahead of Maria Flechtenmacher.[16][17]

Maria Rosetti was subsequently involved in organizing charity events and public ceremonies: in 1866–1867, she raised funds to combat famine, and, in 1871, organized celebrations in the Moldavian locality of Putna.[5] Her prestige increased especially after 1875, when C. A. Rosetti joined the National Liberal Party's leadership.[18] As a journalist, she contributed articles promoting women's liberation.[5] In 1877, as Romania proclaimed her independence and joined the Russian Empire in the anti-Ottoman war, Maria Rosetti rallied funds to aid the wounded, establishing and managing the hospital in Turnu Măgurele.[5][18]

Maria and C. A. Rosetti had eight children, only four of whom reached adulthood.

Racoviţă family, Maria Rosetti was also distantly related with physician Carol Davila and his son, playwright Alexandru Davila.[20]

Death

Upon her death, a large

communist regime years.[21]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Rosenthal – România Revoluționară". mnar.arts.ro (in Romanian). National Museum of Art of Romania. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  2. ^ Cernovodeanu, p.38, 39
  3. ^ Cernovodeanu, p.38
  4. ^ Cernovodeanu, p.38-39
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cernovodeanu, p.39
  6. ^ Frunzetti, p.18-20; Georgescu, p.79-80
  7. ^ Frunzetti, p.20
  8. ^ Frunzetti, p.21; Georgescu, p.80; Livezeanu & Farris, p.283
  9. ^ Cernovodeanu, p.39; Georgescu, p.79; Livezeanu & Farris, p.284
  10. ^
    ISBN 973-33-0481-6
  11. ^ Frunzetti, p.22; Georgescu, p.79
  12. ^ Frunzetti, p.28
  13. ^ Ion C. Butnaru, The Silent Holocaust: Romania and Its Jews, Praeger/Greenwood, Westport, 1992, p.13
  14. ^ Cernovodeanu, p.39; Georgescu, p.79
  15. ^ Georgescu, p.80; Livezeanu & Farris, p.283
  16. ^ a b (in Romanian) Marian Petcu, "Jurnaliste şi publiciste uitate" Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, in the University of Bucharest Faculty of Journalism's Revista Română de Jurnalism şi Comunicare Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, Nr. 2-3/2006, p.129
  17. ^ a b Livezeanu & Farris, p.246
  18. ^ a b "C. A. Rosetti" Archived 2006-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, in the Ohio University's Encyclopedia of Revolutions of 1848 Archived 2007-06-23 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved July 16, 2007
  19. ^ Cernovodeanu, p.39-40
  20. ^ George Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986, p.653
  21. ^ a b Livezeanu & Farris, p.284

References

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