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Title: Mother Alexandra papers
Date (inclusive): 1883-1990
Collection Number: 78054
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English, French, and Romanian
Physical Description:
4 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 6 phonotape cassettes
(2.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Writings, correspondence, clippings, and photographs, relating to the Romanian royal family and to the Romanian Orthodox Church
in the United States. Includes photocopies of correspondence of Queen Marie of Romania.
Creator:
Marie, Queen, consort of Ferdinand I, King of Romania, 1875-1938
Creator:
Alexandra, Mother, 1909-1991
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1978.
[Identification of item], Mother Alexandra papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Mother Alexandra was born in 1909 as Princess Ileana of Romania, the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie.
Ileana married Archduke Anton of Austria and lived in Sonnberg, Austria. She gave birth to six children, whom she moved in
1944 to Romania. She founded a hospital there in memory of her mother, Queen Marie and worked with the war-wounded and the
surrounding population until 1948, when the Romanian royal family left the country for exile.
In 1961, Mother Alexandra entered her novitiate at the Monastery of the Veil in Bussy-en-Othe, France. She took orders in
1967 and was sent to the United States to found an all English-speaking monastery open to women of all ethnicities. Mother
Alexandra became the first abbess of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Mother Alexandra papers consists of writings, correspondence, clippings, sound recordings, and photographs, relating to
the Romanian royal family and to the Romanian Orthodox Church in the United States. Includes photocopies of correspondence
of Queen Marie of Romania and of the correspondence and memoir of Prince Nicholas of Romania. The Writings series documents
lectures and articles given by Princess Ileana of Romania, as well as her work translating poems after taking orders as Mother
Alexandra. The Correspondence series document Mother Alexandra's role as abbess, in addition to her travels as Princess Ileana
and relationships with European royalty, particularly the British royal family. The scrapbooks and general file record Princess
Ileana's travels in the early 1900s with her mother, Queen Marie. The bulk of the photographic file dates from Mother Alexandra's
life and travels before taking orders. It includes formal portraits, landscapes and architectural prints, photographic postcards,
and art reproductions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Audiotapes
Romanians -- United States
United States
Romania -- Court and courtiers
Biserica Ortodoxă Română