Ghika, HELENA

Ghika, HELENA, Princess Koltzoff-Massalsky, better known by her literary pseudonym of Dora d'Istria, was a daughter of Prince Michael Ghika, was a niece of two hospodars of Wallachia, and was born at Bucharest, 22d January 1829. The family from which she was descended was Albanian in origin, and from the time of George Ghika, hospodar of Wallachia in 1660, gave many princes and eminent men to the principalities (see ROUMANIA). Profoundly instructed in the classics under the care of George Pappadopoulos, the princess added to her acquirements by travels through Germany, France, and Italy an extensive knowledge of modern languages and literature. At fifteen she commenced a translation of the Iliad into German, and not long after wrote several pieces for the theatre. On her unhappy marriage in 1849 with Prince Koltzoff-Massalsky she accompanied her husband to the court of St Petersburg; but from 1855 she resided mainly at Florence, where she died, 22d November 1888. Her first important work, La Vie Monastique dans l'Église Orientale, was published in 1855. Other works were: La Suisse Allemande (1856); Les Femmes en Orient (1860); Excursions en Roumélie (1863); Aux Bords des Lacs Helvétiques (1864); Des Femmes, par une Femme (1864); Gli Albanesi in Rumenia; Storia dei Principi Ghika (1873); La Poésie des Ottomans (1873). She wrote much for the Revue des Deux Mondes and other journals and magazines of France, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland; and her writings on Albanian literature stirred up a notable literary and national movement amongst the Albanians. She was made a member of several learned societies, and an honorary citizen of the Greek kingdom. See Cecchetti, Dora d'Istria (1871), and an article in Scribner's Magazine for December 1878.