March begins with a new issue of postage stamps: on Friday, March 5, 2021, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation the show entitled Famous Women from Romania, dedicated to exceptional female personalities.
Alice Voinescu (1885-1961), illustrated on the stamp with a face value of 1.40 lei, was the first Romanian doctor of philosophy. Writer, translator and theater critic, she graduated from the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy in Bucharest, and in 1913 she obtained her doctorate in philosophy at the Sorbonne University in Paris, becoming the first woman in Romania with a doctorate in this discipline. He received offers of employment in universities in France and the USA, but refused them, returning to Romania. At the beginning of the 20th century, becoming a university professor of philosophy in the country proved impossible – such positions were the prerogative of men – so he focused on the aesthetics and history of theater, becoming, in 1922, full professor at the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art in Bucharest .
After the Communists came to power because she disagreed with the authorities’ policy, her existence became extremely difficult: in 1948, she was forced to retire, and in 1951 she was arrested and spent a year and seven months in prison. Subsequently, he had a compulsory residence in the commune of Costești in Iași County, until 1954. After returning to Bucharest, he survived due to a small pension and the earnings obtained from his work as a translator. She remained in the history of Romanian culture through the books of philosophy, aesthetics and theater she published, but also through her remarkable Journal, which includes, in addition to events from her own life, document pages about people and events from the interwar period. and the communist one.
Smaranda Brăescu (1897-1948), represented on the stamp with a face value of 1.50 lei, was the first female parachutist with a patent in Romania and held, in the 1930s, world records in parachuting.
She became passionate about aviation from a young age and took classes in Germany, obtaining the international parachute license.
On October 2, 1931, she set her first record, which she wanted to achieve in Romania: she broke the world women’s record and the European men’s record in skydiving, jumping from a height of 6,000 m. Then, her ambition took her further. far away, in America, to try to break the absolute world record. After hard training and great difficulties in obtaining a plane and the authorization to perform the jump, he succeeded. On May 19, 1932, in Sacramento, USA, he set a new world record in parachuting: 7233 m.
Later, he obtained a pilot’s license, and during the Second World War he worked in Romania as a parachute instructor and as a volunteer pilot in medical aviation.
Sentenced in prison in prison by the communist regime for signing a protest against the falsification of the 1946 elections, she was forced to hide under a loan name until she passed away in 1948.
Even if today the world record for parachuting is over 41,000 m, Smaranda Brăescu’s performances remain exceptional for that time. For the records obtained, it was declared in 1932 “sportswoman no. 1 of the world ”.
Sarmiza Bilcescu (1867-1935), known as Sarmiza Bilcescu-Alimănișteanu, after her marriage to the engineer Constantin Alimănișteanu, whose image is illustrated on the stamp with a face value of 19.50 lei, was the first woman lawyer in Romania, the first woman to studied law at the Sorbonne University in Paris and the first woman in the world to obtain a doctorate in law.
By enrolling in the Faculty of Law at the Sorbonne University, she became the first female representative to attend the courses of this faculty. Her colleagues readily accepted her; On the other hand, not all teachers were equally unprejudiced: some went so far as to forbid them from attending their classes.
However, Sarmiza Bilcescu persevered, took her exams with flying colors, obtaining in 1887 the degree in legal sciences, and in 1890 she became the first woman in the world to obtain the academic title of doctor of law, with the thesis “On the legal condition of the mother in Romanian and French law ”, in which he pleaded for equality between women and men in marriage and in terms of the rights over the child.
Returning to Romania, he applied to join the Ilfov Bar. Although her request confused the teachers, it was accepted, Sarmiza Bilcescu becoming, in 1891, the first woman lawyer in Romania. However, he did not practice law, because the mentality of the clients determined them to turn to male lawyers. Instead, she dedicated herself to philanthropic activity, improving the condition and rights of women, education, promoting Romanian culture.
Romfilatelia thanks the Library of the Romanian Academy, the National Museum of Romanian Literature and the Romanian Association for Propaganda and the History of Aeronautics (ARPIA), for the documentary support provided for the realization of this postage stamp issue.
