Register of the Mother Alexandra papers
Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2008, 2013
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
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
Access
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.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1978.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Mother Alexandra papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical/Historical Note
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
Sound recordings
Physical Description: 6.0 sound_cassettes
onsite digital
Mutual Broadcasting System program Viewpoint
05 April 1958
Access
Use copy reference number: 78054_a_0010412
Scope and Contents note
Princess Ileana of Romania is the guest/interviewee. She talks about communism in Romania and fighting it.
onsite digital
Panel recording
29 March 1960-03 April 1960
Access
Use copy reference number: 78054_a_0010413
Scope and Contents note
Videotaped: March 29, 1960
Broadcast: April 3, 1960
Moderator: Ronald Wulkan
Panelists: Jane Ellis Ball, Richard Larkin, Pittsburg editor, Busineswork editor
TFX, Higgens, executive director, Foreign Policy Association
onsite digital
Princess Ileana of Romania lecture 'Courage'
20 May 1953
Access
Use copy reference number: 78054_a_0010410
Scope and Contents note
Given in Evanston, Illinois, on Wednesday, May 20, 1953.
onsite digital
Princess Ileana of Romania radio broadcast 'I Saw It Happen'
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 78054_a_0010399
onsite digital
Princess Ileana of Romania religious lecture 'Exile'
17 May 1953-18 May 1953
Access
Use copy reference number: 78054_a_0010406
Scope and Contents note
Given in Chicago, Illinois, on May 17, 1953 and Evanston, Illinois, on May 18, 1953.
onsite digital
Princess Ileana of Romania talk to ETS-Wives Group
undated
Access
Use copy reference number: 78054_a_0010395
Scope and Contents note
Religious talk with question and answer session. Incomplete, missing conclusion of the talk.
Photographs
1880s-1937, undated
box 4, folder 1
Envelope A: 72 prints depicting King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania and their children, before and right after World
War I, including prints of King Alexander of Yugoslavia, husband of Princess Marie, as well as prints of the Duke and Duchess
of Edinburgh, Queen Marie's parents
box 4, folder 2
Envelope B: 28 prints depicting Princess Ileana of Romania, youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie; her husband
Anton, Archduke of Austria and their children; her sisters and friends, as well as prints depicting Princess Ileana speaking
in Munich for Radio Free Europe (with prints of the Iron Curtain)
box 4, folder 3
Envelope C: 17 prints depicting Reverend Mother Abbess Alexandra, former Princess Ileana of Romania, Superioress of the Monastery
of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania
box 4, folder 4
Envelope D: 22 prints relating to the 1906 Exhibition in Bucharest commemorating 40 years of King Carol I reign; the 10 years
festivities of Greater Romania in 1929; the coronation ceremony of King George VI and Queen Elisabeth of Great Britain in
the Abbey of Westminster, May 12, 1937
box 4, folder 5
Envelope E: 42 prints and postcards of the royal castles of Bran, Balcic (with prints of Queen Marie), and Sinaia; the Cotroceni
Palace in Bucarest and the property of Copaceni
box 4, folder 6
Envelope F: 27 prints relating to Queen Marie's visit to Morocco in 1933 and 26 postcards of the turn of the century depicting
Bucharest and Romanian countryside and folklore
1933
box 4, folder 7
Envelope mG: 1 print of Queen Elizabeth of Romania; 1 print of Laszlo's portrait of Queen Marie; 5 prints of Princess Helen
and her son, King Michael
box 2
Envelope mH: 2 prints of Queen Marie
box 4, folder 9-10
Unidentified portraits
1920, undated
box 4
Identity cards
1926, 1940
Scope and Contents
Includes formal portraits and landscapes.
box 4
Postcards: art reproductions
undated
box 5
Postcards: landscapes and architecture
undated
box 5
Postcards: portraits
undated
box 5
Cabinet portraits
undated
box 5
Abbaye Royale d'Hautecombe
undated
box 5
Unidentified landscapes and buildings
undated
box 1, folder 14-15
Christmas cards from royalty
1965-1982
box 3, folder 1
Family correspondence
1959-1973
box 3, folder 2
Mother Eudoxia, Abbess of the Russian Convent at Bussy, France
1970-1974
box 3, folder 3
Alleluyeva, Svetlana (Stalin's daughter)
1969-1973
box 3, folder 4
Mackworton-Young, Robert
1968-1971
box 3, folder 5
Queen Marie's correspondence
1883-1936
box 3, folder 6-7
Prince Nicholas of Romania, correspondence and papers
1963-1980
Scope and Contents
Includes copy of his memoir.
box 3, folder 8
On the Orthodox Church
1957
box 3, folder 9
Lectures - Religious
1953-1956
box 3, folder 10
On Queen Marie
1970-1973, undated
box 3, folder 11
Poems from Communist Prisons, collected by Zahu Pană, translated by Mother Alexandra
1985
box 3, folder 12
Documents of Importance
1931-1975
box 3, folder 13
Funeral of King Alexander of Yugoslavia
1934
box 3, folder 14
Miscellany
1920, 1938, undated
box 3, folder 16
"Life Transfigured:" Special Issue in Memory of Mother Alexandra
1991
box 2
Proceedings: Address of Princess Ileana of the Fortnightly Club
1956 December 4
box 2
Clippings relating to the death of Ferdinand I of Romania
1927
box 2
2 scrapbooks of clippings relating to Queen Marie of Romania's visit to the United States
1926
box 2
Clippings relating to the Romanian royal family
1930-1959
box 2
Clippings relating to the Romanian royal family
1926-1957
