A Romanian Heroine of British Origin — Maria Rosetti

The paper analyses the image of Maria Rosetti, the first female journalist in Romania, one of the personalities that played a crucial role for the outcome of the Revolution of 1848, and the way in which she remained in the public consciousness. Born in Guernsey, Scotland, the sister of the diplomat Effingham Grant and wife of the Romanian revolutionary Constantin Alexandru Rosetti “made the cause of Romania her own“. Despite being a foreigner, through everything she did, Maria Rosetti tried to help her adoptive country evolve and become a modern unitary state. Besides playing an active role in the escape of her husband and of other revolutionaries arrested by the Turks, she was also the mother of eight children (only four survived) in whom she instilled the most fervent patriotism. Last, but not least, the wife of C. A. Rosetti used her literary talent for pedagogical purposes in order to educate the younger generations according to the desiderata of a new Romanian society. Admired by her contemporaries and by her followers, her portrait was immortalized by C. D. Rosenthal in the famous painting “Revolutionary Romania”, becoming a symbol of the love and of the power of sacrifice for her country.