The Dowager Queen Elisabeth of Roumania died today at 7:30 in the morning, according to a Bucharest dispatch, published in the New York Times. She was 72 years old.
Queen Elisabeth "was under the treatment of three doctors." She returned to Bucharest from Curtea de Arges in Wallachia. A week ago, she became ill, and "inflammation of the lungs quickly developed." She seemed to improve early yesterday, but soon the became unconscious and she died "within a few hours.
King Ferdinand and Queen Marie were at Elisabeth's bedside when she died.
Queen Elisabeth was born Princess Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise of Wied. The daughter of the late Prince Hermann of Wied and Princess Marie of Nassau. She was the aunt of Prince Wilhelm of Wied, who was briefly the sovereign of Albania.
Early in life, Elisabeth "evinced a talent for literature," and adopted the pen name, Carmen Sylva. She first met her future husband, King Carol of Roumania at the court of Berlin in 1861. They were married eight years later. Carol was born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern.
Elisabeth's only child, Princess Marie, was born in 1870 and died four years later.
Roumania became a kingdom in 1881, and the newly elected Carol and his wife embarked on new life in Bucharest. Queen Elisabeth devoted a lot of her time to charity and "fostering the higher education of women" in Roumania. She also founded "societies for social betterment work and the relief of women."
Queen Elisabeth was also a distinguished pianist, organist, and singer, and she "showed ability for painting and illuminating."
Her best-known book, "A Real Queen's Fairy Book," was published in 1901. Elisabeth's final years were far from happy. She suffered from cataracts in both eyes. Old friends "rarely asked for an audience" with the queen and "complained that the three old ladies who surrounded her had alienated her from all her intellectual friends." They liked to do needlework, and could not understand why people "could talk about books and art." It was only when these three ladies went to Wiesbaden for their annual cure that was Elisabeth "able to see her old friends."
The funeral will take place on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment