View source for Elisabeth of Wied

{{Short description|Princess/Queen of Romania from 1869 to 1914}}
{{Hatnote|"Carmen-Sylva" and "Queen Elisabeth of Romania" redirect here. Not to be confused with [[Carmen Silva]]. For the Romanian town formerly called Carmen-Sylva, see [[Eforie]]. For the consort of George II, King of the Hellenes, see [[Elisabeth of Romania]].}}
{{Infobox royalty
| full name    = Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise
| name         = Elisabeth of Wied
| image        = Queen Elizabeth of Romania.jpg
| caption      = Elisabeth {{c.}} 1870
| consort      = yes
| succession   = [[Queen consort of Romania]]
| coronation   = 10 May 1881
| reign        = 15 March 1881{{snd}}27 September 1914
| succession1  = [[Princess consort of Romania]]
| reign1       = 15 November 1869{{snd}}15 March 1881
| birth_date   = 29 December 1843
| birth_place  = Schloss Monrepos, [[Neuwied]], [[Duchy of Nassau]]
| death_date   = 2 March 1916 (aged 72)
| death_place  = [[Royal Palace of Bucharest|Golescu Mansion]], [[Bucharest]], [[Kingdom of Romania]]
| burial_place = [[Curtea de Argeș Cathedral]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Carol I of Romania]]|1869|1914|end=d}}
| issue        = [[Princess Maria of Romania (1870–1874)|Princess Maria of Romania]]
| house        = [[Wied-Neuwied]]
| father       = [[Hermann, Prince of Wied]]
| mother       = [[Princess Marie of Nassau]]
| signature    = Elisaveta of Romania - signature.png
}}

'''Elisabeth of Wied''' (Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise; 29 December 1843{{snd}}{{OldStyleDate|2 March|1916|18 February}}) was the first [[Queen of Romania]] as the wife of [[King Carol I]] from 15 March 1881 to 27 September 1914. She had been the [[princess consort of Romania]] since her marriage to then-Prince Carol on 15 November 1869.

Elisabeth was born into a German noble family. She was briefly considered as a potential bride for the future British king [[Edward VII]], but Edward rejected her. Elisabeth married Prince Carol of Romania in 1869. Their only child, [[Princess Maria of Romania (1870–1874)|Princess Maria]], died aged three in 1874, and Elisabeth never fully recovered from the loss of her daughter. When Romania became a [[Kingdom of Romania|kingdom]] in 1881, Elisabeth became queen, and she was crowned together with Carol that same year. 

Elisabeth was a prolific writer under the name '''Carmen Sylva'''.

==Family and early life==
Born at [[:File:Schloss_Monrepos_Neuwied.jpg|Castle Monrepos]] in [[Neuwied]], she was the daughter of [[Hermann, Prince of Wied]], and his wife [[Princess Marie of Nassau]].

Elisabeth had artistic leanings; her childhood featured seances and visits to the local asylum for the mentally ill.<ref name=P144/>

==Marriage==
[[File:Queen Elisabeth of Romania.jpg|left|thumb|Princess Elisabeth of Wied in her youth, circa 1867-72]]
When she was about 16, Elisabeth was considered as a possible bride for [[Albert Edward, Prince of Wales]] ("Bertie"), the eldest son and [[heir apparent]] of [[Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom]]. The Queen strongly favored Elisabeth as a prospective daughter-in-law and urged her daughter [[Victoria, Princess Royal]], to look further into her.<ref name=P144>Pakula, p. 144.</ref> Elisabeth was spending the social season at the Berlin court, where her family hoped she would be tamed into a docile, marriageable princess. Princess Victoria told the Queen, "I do not think her at all distinguée looking—certainly the opposite to Bertie's usual taste", whereas the tall and slender [[Alexandra of Denmark]] was "just the style Bertie admires".<ref name=P144/> The Prince of Wales was also shown photographs of Elisabeth, but professed himself unmoved and declined to give them a second glance.<ref>Hibbert, pp. 40-41.</ref> In the end, Alexandra was selected for Albert Edward.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

Elisabeth first met Prince Karl of [[Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]] in [[Berlin]] in 1861. In 1869, Karl, who was now Prince Carol of Romania, traveled to Germany in search of a suitable consort. He was reunited with Elisabeth, and the two were married on 15 November 1869 in [[Neuwied]]. Their only child, a daughter, [[Princess Maria of Romania (1870–1874)|Maria]], died in 1874 at age three — an event from which Elisabeth never recovered. She was crowned Queen of Romania in 1881 after Romania was proclaimed a kingdom.

In the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878|Russo-Turkish War]] of 1877–1878, also known as the [[Romanian War of Independence]], she devoted herself to the care of the wounded, and founded the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Romania#Kingdom of Romania|Decoration of the Cross of Queen Elisabeth]] to reward distinguished service in such work. She fostered the higher education of women in Romania, and established societies for various charitable objects.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Elizabeth of Rumania|volume=9|page=286}}</ref> She was the 835th [[Dame (title)|Dame]] of the [[Order of Queen Maria Luisa]]. She died at the [[Royal Palace of Bucharest|Golescu Mansion]] in Bucharest. 
[[File:The-casquet-of-Marie.jpg|thumb|Funeral procession in 1916, with Princess Marie's coffin atop her mother's casquet.]]
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She founded the National Society for the Blind and was the first royal patron of the [[Romanian Red Cross]].

Early distinguished by her excellence as a pianist, organist and singer, she also showed considerable ability in painting and illuminating; but a lively poetic imagination led her to the path of literature, and more especially to poetry, folk-lore and ballads. In addition to numerous original works she put into literary form many of the legends current among the Romanian peasantry.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Literary activity==
[[File:Monumento a Elisabetta di Wied, regina di Romania, castello di Peleș, Sinaia, Romania.jpg|thumb|Monument to Elisabeth of Wied at [[Peleș Castle]], [[Sinaia]] (by {{ill|Oscar Späthe|ro}})]]
As "'''Carmen Sylva'''", she wrote with facility in German, [[Romanian language|Romanian]], French and English. A few of her voluminous writings, which include poems, plays, novels, short stories, essays, collections of [[Aphorism|aphorisms]], etc., may be singled out for special mention:<ref name="EB1911"/>
*Her earliest publications were ''Sappho'' and ''Hammerstein'', two poems which appeared at [[Leipzig]] in 1880.
*In 1888 she received the ''{{ill|Prix Botta|fr}}'', a prize awarded triennially by the [[Académie française]], for her volume of prose aphorisms ''Les Pensees d'une reine'' ([[Paris]], 1882), a German version of which is entitled ''Vom Amboss'' (Bonn, 1890).
*''Cuvinte Sufletesci'', religious meditations in Romanian ([[Bucharest]], 1888), was also translated into German (Bonn, 1890), as ''Seelen-Gespräche''.

Several of the queen’s works as "Carmen Sylva" were written in collaboration with [[Mite Kremnitz]], one of her [[Maid of honour|maids of honor]]; these were published between 1881 and 1888, sometimes under the joint pseudonym '''Dito et Idem'''. These include:<ref name="EB1911"/>
* ''Aus zwei Welten'' (Leipzig, 1884), a novel
* ''Anna Boleyn'' (Bonn, 1886), a tragedy
* ''In der Irre'' (Bonn, 1888), a collection of short stories
* ''Edleen Vaughan'', or ''Paths of Peril'' (London, 1894), a novel
* ''Sweet Hours'' (London, 1904), a collection of English poems

Among several translations by "Carmen Sylva" include:<ref name="EB1911"/>
* German versions of [[Pierre Loti]]'s romance ''Pecheur d'Islande''
* German versions of Paul de St Victor's dramatic criticisms ''Les Deux Masques'' (Paris, 1881–1884)
* ''The Bard of the Dimbovitza'', an English translation of [[Elena Văcărescu]]'s collection of Romanian folk-songs, etc., entitled ''Lieder aus dem Dimbovitzathal'' (Bonn, 1889), translated in collaboration with British poet [[Alma Strettell]]. ''The Bard of the Dimbovitza'' was first published in 1891, and was soon reissued and expanded.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YBV2_advertisements – Yellow Nineties 2.0 |url=https://1890s.ca/ybv2_advertisements/ |access-date=2024-08-03 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The bard of the Dimbovitza {{!}} Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum |url=https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/25342 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=www.gardnermuseum.org |language=en}}</ref>

Translations of original works by "Carmen Sylva" have appeared in all  principal languages of Europe and in [[Armenian language|Armenian]].<ref name="EB1911" />

A book of reminiscences, ''From Memory's Shrine'', was published in 1911.

[[File:Queen Elisabeth of Romania with her daughter.jpg|left|thumb|Queen Elisabeth of Romania with her daughter [[Princess Maria of Romania (1870–1874)|Maria]]]]

==Văcărescu Affair==
In 1881, due to the lack of heirs to the Romanian throne, King Carol I adopted his nephew, [[Ferdinand I of Romania|Ferdinand]]. Ferdinand, a complete stranger in his new home, started to get close to one of Elisabeth's ladies in waiting, [[Elena Văcărescu]]. Elisabeth, very close to Elena herself, encouraged the romance, although she was perfectly aware of the fact that a marriage between the two was forbidden by the Romanian constitution.

The result of this was the exile of both Elisabeth (in [[Neuwied]]) and Elena (in [[Paris]]), as well as a trip by Ferdinand through Europe in search of a suitable bride, whom he eventually found in [[Queen Victoria]]'s granddaughter, Princess [[Marie of Edinburgh, Queen of Romania|Marie of Edinburgh]]. The affair helped reinforce Elisabeth's image as a dreamer and eccentric.

Quite unusually for a queen, Elisabeth of Wied was personally of the opinion that a republican form of government was preferable to monarchy—an opinion which she expressed forthrightly in her diary, though she did not make it public at the time:<blockquote>"''I must sympathize with the [[Social democracy|Social Democrats]], especially in view of the inaction and corruption of the nobles. These "little people", after all, want only what nature confers: equality. The Republican form of government is the only rational one. I can never understand the foolish people, the fact that they continue to tolerate us.''"<ref>Eugen Wolbe, ''Carmen Sylva'', Leipzig, 1933, p. 137, here quoted from Brigitte Hamann, ''Elisabeth: Kaiserin wider Willen'', Munich, 1982, translated to English as ''The Reluctant Empress'', New York, 1986 (a biography of [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria]], who was Elisabeth of Wied's friend).<!-- ISBN needed --></ref></blockquote>
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==Honours==
===National===
* {{flag|German Empire|name=Germany}}: Dame of the [[Order of Louise]]
** [[File:Flag of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Sigmaringen.png|23px]] [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]]: Dame of the [[House Order of Hohenzollern]]
* {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown (Romania)|Order of the Crown]]<ref name="RomanianHonours">[[:File:Die Gartenlaube (1887) b 749.jpg|Queen Elisabeth wearing the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown and The Decoration of the Cross of Queen Elisabeth]]</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the [[Order of Carol I]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.familiaregala.ro/ordine-si-decoratii/ordinul-carol-i|title=Ordinul Carol I|website=Familia Regala}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Star of Romania]]
* {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}: Grand Master Knight of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Romania#Kingdom of Romania|Decoration of the Cross of Queen Elisabeth]]<ref name="RomanianHonours"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romanianculture.org/personalities/Carmen_Sylva.htm|title=Romanian Personalities - Carmen Sylva|website=www.romanianculture.org|access-date=2017-04-24|archive-date=2021-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506022045/http://www.romanianculture.org/personalities/Carmen_Sylva.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Romania|name=Romania}}: Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Medal of King Carol I

===Foreign===
* {{Flag|Austria-Hungary}}:
** Dame of the [[Order of the Starry Cross]], 1st Class
** Decoration of Honour for Arts and Sciences, in Brilliants, ''1896''<ref name="osterreich">{{citation|chapter-url=https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1916&page=71&size=45|chapter=Ritter-Orden |title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie|date=1916|pages=[https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1916&page=59&size=45 32], [https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=shb&datum=1916&page=282&size=45 255]}}</ref>
** Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian [[Order of Elizabeth]], ''1913''<ref name="osterreich"/>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Portugal|name=Portugal}}: Dame of the [[Order of Saint Isabel|Order of Queen Saint Isabel]]<ref name="blogspot">{{cite web|url=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cg72-e-3OoU/Tu4oBhaTHGI/AAAAAAAAAxk/LQ0rEg5KreM/s320/Regina+Elisabeta+%25283%2529.jpg|title=Image|publisher=4.bp.blogspot.com|access-date=2015-09-04}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Russian Empire|name=Russia}}: Grand Cross of the Imperial [[Order of Saint Catherine]]<ref>https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b9/d2/81/b9d281dc62b582636503720fdb425b74.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref>
* {{flag|Kingdom of Serbia|name=Serbia}}: Grand Cross of the Royal [[Order of Saint Sava]]
* {{flagcountry|Restoration (Spain)}}: Dame of the [[Order of Queen Maria Luisa]], ''26 December 1884''<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000941464&search=&lang=es|title=Guía Oficial de España|date=1887|journal=Guía Oficial de España|access-date=21 March 2019|page=169}}</ref>
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}: [[Royal Order of Victoria and Albert|Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, 1st Class]]<ref name="Whitaker1897">{{cite book|author=Joseph Whitaker|title=An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord ...|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TUMsAAAAMAAJ|year=1897|publisher=J. Whitaker|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TUMsAAAAMAAJ/page/n119 110]}}</ref>
* {{flag|Württemberg}}: [[Order of Olga|Dame of the Order of Olga]], ''1880''<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Pc5CAAAAYAAJ/page/n171 Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg]'' (1907), "Königliche Orden" p. 136</ref>

==Legacy==
The Bucharest-born colonizer of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, [[Julius Popper]], was a fan of her work and named some features after her.
* Sierra Carmen Silva (Chile)
* Río Carmen Silva (Argentina, also known as Río Chico)
* [[The Forest path of Carmen Sylva (Šetalište Carmen Sylve)]] in [[Opatija]], [[Croatia]]
*[[Villa Carmen Sylva (Domburg)]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vvvzeeland.nl/en/villa-carmen-sylva-oid188661/|title=Villa Carmen Sylva - VVV Zeeland|website=VVV Zeeland|access-date=2017-08-29|archive-date=2018-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902222114/https://www.vvvzeeland.nl/en/villa-carmen-sylva-oid188661/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Villa Carmen Sylva (Varese)]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laprovinciadivarese.it/stories/Homepage/371426_c_un_cartiglio_in_villa_sylva_sveler_il_mistero_della_regina/|title=C'è un cartiglio in Villa Sylva Svelerà il mistero della regina?|date=28 April 2013 }}</ref>

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Princess Elisabeth of Wied'''
|2= 2. [[Hermann, Prince of Wied]]
|3= 3. [[Princess Marie of Nassau]]
|4= 4. [[Johann August Karl, Prince of Wied]]
|5= 5. [[Princess Sophie Auguste of Solms-Braunfels]]
|6= 6. [[William, Duke of Nassau]]
|7= 7. [[Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen]]
|8= 8. [[Friedrich Karl, Prince of Wied]]
|9= 9. Countess Marie of [[Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg]]
|10= 10. [[Wilhelm, Prince of Solms-Braunfels]]
|11= 11. Wild- and Rhinegravine Auguste Franziska of [[Salm (state)|Salm-Grumbach]]
|12= 12. [[Frederick William, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg]]
|13= 13. [[Burgravine Louise Isabelle of Kirchberg]]
|14= 14. [[Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg]]
|15= 15. [[Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Eugen Wolbe, "Carmen Sylva", Leipzig, 1933
* Gabriel Badea-Päun, ''Carmen Sylva - Uimitoarea Regină Elisabeta a României, 1843–1916'', Bucharest, Humanitas, 2003, second edition in 2007, third edition in 2008; {{ISBN|978-973-50-1101-7}}
* Gabriel Badea-Päun, ''Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ (1842–1923) à la cour royale de Roumanie'', dans Bulletin de la Société de l'Historie de l'Art Français, Année 2005, Paris, 2006, pp.&nbsp;257–81. <!-- ISBN needed -->
*{{cite book|first=Christopher|last=Hibbert|title=Edward VII: The Last Victorian King|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|year=2007}}
*{{cite book|first=Hannah|last=Pakula|title=An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick, Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780684808185|url-access=registration|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York|year=1995|isbn=0-684-84216-5}}
* Zimmermann, Silvia Irina: ''The Child of the Sun: Royal Fairy Tales and Essays by the Queens of Romania, Elisabeth (Carmen Sylva, 1843-1916) and Marie (1875-1938)''. Selected and edited, with an introduction and bibliography by Silvia Irina Zimmermann. Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag (Ibidem Press), 2020, 315 pages, 54 illustrations (7 colored), {{ISBN|978-3-8382-1393-4}}.
* Zimmermann, Silvia Irina: ''Der Zauber des fernen Königreichs. Carmen Sylvas „Pelesch-Märchen“'', (Magisterarbeit Universität Marburg 1996), ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, 2011, 180 pages; {{ISBN|978-3-8382-0195-5}}.
* Zimmermann, Silvia Irina: ''Die dichtende Königin. Elisabeth, Prinzessin zu Wied, Königin von Rumänien, Carmen Sylva (1843–1916). Selbstmythisierung und prodynastische Öffentlichkeitsarbeit durch Literatur'', (Doctoral thesis University of Marburg 2001/2003), ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart, 2010, 482 pages; {{ISBN|978-3-8382-0185-6}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Queen Elisabeth of Romania}}

* [http://www.carmensylva-fwa.de/en/introduction.html Research Center Carmen Sylva of the Princely Archive of Wied ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220055136/http://www.carmensylva-fwa.de/en/introduction.html |date=2013-12-20 }}
* [http://www.tkinter.org/CarmenSylva/index.htm Carmen Sylva – Regina Elisabeta of Romania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503233637/http://www.tkinter.org/CarmenSylva/index.htm |date=2011-05-03 }} at Tom's Place (tkinter.org) – works by and about her, gallery from newspapers and magazines 
* {{Gutenberg author | id=35434| name=Carmen Sylva}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Carmen Sylva}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130828124913/http://carmen-sylva.de/literatur.htm Books about Carmen Sylva and new editions of her works] {{in lang|de}}
<!-- private; registration and permission of the owner required
* [http://sylvaregina.wordpress.com/ Carmen Sylva. Regina Elisabeta a României - Poet Queen]
* [http://arsreginae.wordpress.com/ Ars Reginae. Romania's Writing-Queens]
 -->
* {{LCAuth|n84181329|Carmen Sylva|29|ue}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/004651}}
* Copies of novels written by Elisabeth of Wied in the [https://www.tcd.ie/library/research-collections/named-collections/q.php#QueenofRoumania Queen of Roumania Collection] at the [[Library of Trinity College Dublin]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Wied]]|29 December|1843|2 March|1916|[[House of Wied]]}}
{{S-roy|ro}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Elena Cuza|Elena Rosetti]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Princess consort of Romania]]
|years=1869–1881}}
{{s-non|reason=Title abandoned}}
{{s-new|reason=}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Queen consort of Romania]]
|years=1881–1914}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Marie of Edinburgh]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Romanian princesses by marriage}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth Of Wied}}
[[Category:1843 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Neuwied]]
[[Category:People from the Duchy of Nassau]]
[[Category:House of Wied-Neuwied]]
[[Category:Princesses of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]]
[[Category:Romanian Lutherans]]
[[Category:Romanian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Romanian folklorists]]
[[Category:Romanian women folklorists]]
[[Category:19th-century Romanian novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century Romanian poets]]
[[Category:Romanian royal consorts]]
[[Category:Romanian women short story writers]]
[[Category:Romanian short story writers]]
[[Category:Romanian translators]]
[[Category:French-language Romanian writers]]
[[Category:German-language Romanian writers]]
[[Category:Romanian writers]]
[[Category:German women writers]]
[[Category:French-language German writers]]
[[Category:20th-century German writers]]
[[Category:Romanian women novelists]]
[[Category:Romanian women poets]]
[[Category:Romanian women dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Romanian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Romanian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Romanian women writers]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Romanian Academy]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel]]
[[Category:Ladies of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania)]]
[[Category:Burials at Curtea de Argeş Cathedral]]
[[Category:Female wartime nurses]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Catherine]]