Alice Voinescu (10 February 1885 – 4 June 1961) was a
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n writer, essayist, university professor, theatre critic, and translator.
She was the first Romanian woman to become a Doctor of Philosophy, which she did at the
Sorbonne in 1913 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. In 1922, she became a professor of theatrical history at what would become the
Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in Bucharest, where she taught for over two decades. In 1948, she was removed from her department and spent a year and seven months in prisons in
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.
The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin ( Bulgarian жилав ''žilav'' (tough), which passed into Romanian as ...
and
Ghencea. After her detention, she was kept under
house arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
in the village of
Costești near
Târgu Frumos
Târgu Frumos (also spelled ''Tîrgu Frumos'', sometimes ''Târgul / Tîrgul Frumos''), ) is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. Eleven villages were administered by the town until 2004, when they were split off to form Balș, Cos ...
until 1954. Posthumously, her diary covering the interwar and communist period of Romania's history was discovered and published in 1997.
Early life
Alice Steriadi was born on 10 February 1885 in
Turnu-Severin,
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...
to Massinca (née Poenaru) and Sterie Steriadi. She was one of three daughters, born to the upper-middle-class family, headed by her father who was a Paris-educated lawyer. Her mother's family descended from
Petrache Poenaru, the noted educational reformer, and the couple provided a Western-European education for their daughters. By the age of five, Steriadi was able to read both
Romanian and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and by age six, she was studying
French. She studied at the Lyceum in Turnu-Severin before enrolling at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
.
After she graduated in 1908 from the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, Steriadi went on an academic tour of Europe, studying first at
Leipzig University
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
, with
Theodor Lipps
Theodor Lipps (; 28 July 1851 – 17 October 1914) was a German philosopher, known for his theory regarding aesthetics, creating the framework for the concept of ''Einfühlung'' (empathy)'','' defined as, "projecting oneself onto the object of p ...
and
Johannes Volkelt
Johannes Immanuel Volkelt (21 July 1848, Lipnik near Biala, Austrian Galicia – 8 May 1930, Leipzig) was a German philosopher.
Biography
He was educated at Vienna, Jena, and Leipzig. He became professor of philosophy at Basel in 1883 and at W ...
, who introduced her to
Hermann Cohen
Hermann Cohen (; ; 4 July 1842 – 4 April 1918) was a German philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century".
Bio ...
's work on
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...
. Next she went to
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and by 1910 had arrived in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to study at the
Sorbonne. During the spring of 1911, Steriadi went to
Marburg
Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...
, Germany, where she audited classes given at the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...
with Cohen. She continued her education in Paris at the Sorbonne, studying under
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (; 10 April 1857 – 13 March 1939) was a French scholar trained in philosophy who furthered anthropology with his contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology. His primary field interest was ways of thinking. ...
, earning a PhD ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' in philosophy in 1913, with her successful defence of her thesis, ''The Interpretation of Kant's Doctrine by the Marburg School: A Study in Critical Idealism'' ().
Steriadi was the first Romanian woman to earn a doctorate in philosophy and received offers to continue her education in the United States or stay in Paris to become a lecturer. Instead, she returned to Romania in 1915 and married the lawyer Stelian Voinescu. The marriage would prove to be an unhappy union. She joined the Christian Association of Women (), which was founded in 1919 by Queen
Marie of Romania
Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last queen of Romania from 10 October 1914 to 20 July 1927 as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I.
Marie was born int ...
to provide a variety of philanthropic programs in the interwar period. The organization was aimed at providing upper- and middle-class Romanian women with ways to provide moral and charitable guidance by adopting the orthodox characterization of women, as empathetic mothers able to shape the social fabric of society through their love and devotion.
Career
As there was no avenue for a woman to teach at the
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...
at that time, in 1922, Voinescu joined the faculty of the
Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art, renamed as the Royal Conservatory in 1931. She lectured on
aesthetics
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...
,
theory
A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...
and the
history of theatre
The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years. While performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to acknowledge a distinction between theatre as an art form and entertainment, and ' ...
. She began broadcasting educational programs on the radio in 1924. Between 1928 and 1939, Voinescu traveled annually to France to participate in conferences organized by
Paul Desjardins
Paul Desjardins (born September 27, 1943 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a former all-star professional Canadian football offensive lineman who played nine seasons in the Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Profess ...
at
Pontigny Abbey
Pontigny Abbey (), the church of which in recent decades has also been the cathedral of the Mission de France, otherwise the Territorial Prelature of Pontigny (), was a Cistercian monastery located in Pontigny on the River Serein, in the present ...
. The meetings brought together international intellectuals to evaluate the future of Europe after
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Among those she met there were
Charles du Bos
Charles Du Bos (27 October 1882 – 5 August 1939) was a French essayist and critic, known for works including ''Approximations'' (1922–37), a seven-volume collection of essays and letters, and for his ''Journal'', an autobiographical work publ ...
,
Roger Martin du Gard,
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...
,
Paul Langevin
Paul Langevin (23 January 1872 – 19 December 1946) was a French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the '' Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes'', an anti-fascist ...
,
André Malraux
Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...
,
François Mauriac
François Charles Mauriac (; ; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...
, and
Jacques Rivière
Jacques Rivière (15 July 1886 – 14 February 1925) was a French " man of letters" — a writer, critic and editor who was "a major force in the intellectual life of France in the period immediately following World War I". He edited the ...
. At one of these meetings in 1929, du Gard questioned why she did not keep a journal. From that point on, Voinescu became a
diarist
A diary is a writing, written or audiovisual Memorabilia, memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by Calendar date, date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwriti ...
, keeping careful record of the personalities and events she encountered day to day, though often with long gaps between entries.
Between 1932 and 1942 she made a series of radio presentations evaluating women's place in Romanian society. Some of the topics included ''Directions in Women's Education'', ''The Psychology of Today’s Working Women'', ''The Psychology of Today’s Youth'', which considered whether intellect and femininity were at odds. Voinescu believed that education improved women's ability to be agents of empathy and the moral caregivers of society. She was ambivalent towards women's groups which were based on a Western model and strove for
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...
of women, because she felt that they did not address the Romanian reality. In her radio speeches, she warned that erasing gender differences would result in women being limited by a male view of identity.
Voinescu began publishing, with such works as ''Montaigne, omul și opera'' (Montaigne, life and work, 1936); ''Aspecte din teatrul contemporan'' (Aspects of contemporary theatre, 1941); and ''Eschil'' (Aeschylus, 1946). She also contributed to the ''Istoria filosofiei moderne'' (History of Modern Philosophy, 1936) with works evaluating
French scepticism and
neo-Kantianism
In late modern philosophy, neo-Kantianism () was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the thing-in-itself and his moral philosophy ...
. She contributed to ''Ideea europeană'' magazine and published the theatre column for ''
Revista Fundațiilor Regale''. During this same time, she also began teaching at the School of Social Work, which inspired a brochure ''Contribution dans la Psychologie dans l'Assistance Sociale en Roumanie'' (Contributions to the psychology of social work in Romania, 1938), as well as writing theatre critiques. While continuing to teach at the Royal Conservatory, she also lectured at the French Institute and the Free University of Bucharest. Between 1939 and 1940, Voinescu prepared a publication about four playwrights discussing the works of
Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.
Early lif ...
,
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello (; ; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italians, Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his bold and ...
,
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
, and
Frank Wedekind
Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the developme ...
. She also wrote a condemnation of those who had assassinated
Nicolae Iorga. Her husband died in 1940 and after his death, her journal entries intimately related to him as a confidant, which she had not experienced during his lifetime due to his numerous infidelities.
In 1948, under the nascent
communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
, Voinescu was forcibly retired and to relive the stress, began work on ''Scrisori către fiul și fiica mea'' (Letters to My Son and Daughter), a fictional work addressed to children that the childless Voinescu never had. The work would not be published until after her death. In 1951, she was accused of being a monarchist and of hiding her support for
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rangabe, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantinop ...
after his forced
abdication
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...
. Arrested after attending intellectual resistance conferences held by
Petru Manoliu at the Free University, Voinescu was held for a year at the
Ghencea camp before being sent to the
Prison. She spent nineteen months in prison and then was kept under house arrest in a small village of
Costești in
Iași County
Iași County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași. It is the most populous county in Romania, after the Municipality of Bucharest (which has the same administrative level as that of a cou ...
in the northern part of the country for another year. The village was very isolated, being impossible to reach except by horseback during spring and autumn rains, and with roads completely impassible in winter due to blizzard conditions. Voinescu was even forbidden to attend church to limit her contact with people. Friends, such as
Petru Groza
Petru Groza (7 December 1884 – 7 January 1958) was a Romanian politician, best known as the first Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister of the Romanian Communist Party, Communist Party-dominated government under Soviet Union, Soviet Sovie ...
,
Mihail Jora, and
Tudor Vianu
Tudor Vianu (; January 8, 1898 – May 21, 1964) was a Romanian literary criticism, literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translation, translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of Modernism in Liter ...
, intervened with authorities to secure her release with a small pension.
Voinescu returned home in 1954 and worked as a literary translator for such works as ''
Michael Kohlhaas'' by
Heinrich von Kleist and short stories by
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
. The work kept her busy and wasn't likely to have the same political repercussions as creating her own works. In 1960 and 1961, she worked on ''Întâlnire cu eroi din literatură și teatru'' (Encounters with Heroes in Literature and Drama, 1983) and occasionally was asked to make translations for colleagues.
Death and legacy

Voinescu died during the night of 3–4 June 1961. She is buried at
Bellu Cemetery, in Bucharest.
In 1983, the Eminescu Publishing House released ''Tragic Heroes'', edited by Valeriu Râpeanu and then in 1994 ''Letters to My Son and Daughter'' was published. In 1997, Maria Ana Murnu edited and published with Editura Albatros, ''The Journal'', Voinescu's rediscovered diaries, which was reissued in 2013 by Biblioteca
Polirom. ''The Journal'' included notes about cultural personalities from the interwar and postwar periods; her relationships with other people, particularly her interactions with the villagers during her confinement; and her musings on historical and social issues during the time which had been obscured behind political agenda. She explored candidly her experiences, such as her abhorrence of
anti-Semitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
and the
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
justifying government confiscations and
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of properties of
Romanian Jews
The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...
, while simultaneously pondering whether she would be able to obtain one of those houses to alleviate the financial straits in which her husband's death had left her. She decried the persecution of the
Romani people
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Romani people
, image =
, image_caption =
, flag = Roma flag.svg
, flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
, po ...
and her frustrations of the vulnerability women faced because of societal restrictions. ''Scrisori din Costești'' (Letters from Costești), written during her house arrest, was published in 2001.
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Voinescu, Alice
1885 births
1961 deaths
People from Drobeta-Turnu Severin
20th-century Romanian essayists
20th-century Romanian women writers
20th-century Romanian translators
Romanian columnists
Romanian diarists
Romanian women philosophers
Romanian prisoners and detainees
Romanian writers in French
Romanian theatre critics
Romanian women theatre critics
University of Bucharest alumni
University of Paris alumni
Romanian women columnists
Women diarists
Academic staff of the National University of Music Bucharest
Prisoners and detainees of Romania
Inmates of Jilava Prison
20th-century Romanian philosophers
Burials at Bellu Cemetery