Teodoroiu, Ecaterina (Combatants/Military Personnel)

(1894-1917)

The Joan of Arc of Romania. Ecaterina Teodor-oiu was born in the northern part of the Oltenia region of Romania into a poor peasant family.

There were eight children in the family, and Teodoroiu’s childhood was one of poverty and hardship. Having an extraordinary will and a strong character, she struggled to escape poverty and become a schoolteacher. After completing elementary school in her native village, she attended secondary school in Targu Jiu and was able to continue her studies in Bucharest.

In 1913 during the Second Balkan War, Teodoroiu volunteered for a scouting group that assisted the Romanian military units. In August 1916, during the general mobilization as Romania entered World War I on the side of the Allies, Teodoroiu could not stand idle as her brothers went to war. She volunteered to tend to the wounded soldiers at the Targu Jiu hospital.

The folk legend of the Virgin from Jiu originated with the battle at the Jiu River. On January 14, 1916, two companies of Bavarian mountain troops pushed to the Jiu bridge and threatened the defenseless city of Targu Jiu. At that crucial moment Ecaterina Teodoroiu was the first Romanian woman to seize a weapon to save her country. Her action inspired the local population. The bridge was defended and the city saved from the Germans. Teodoroiu’s action became a great symbol of Romanian national resistance against foreign invaders. Thus Ecaterina Teodoroiu became the Joan of Arc of Romania.

Subsequently serving as a volunteer in the same military unit with her brother Nicolae, she fought and became a heroic example for the other soldiers. At the beginning of November 1916, seeking revenge following the death of her brother, she fought in the Romanian effort to defend the Gorj region. After three days the Germans captured her unit. During a desperate clash, she shot a sentry and managed to escape. Fighting near the town of Filiasi on November 6, 1916, she was severely wounded in both legs by a mortar shell. She was evacuated with other wounded by hospital train to Moldavia. On March 19, 1917, she was granted the Romanian Military Medal of Honor and was promoted to second lieutenant. After recovering,Teodoroiu returned to combat. On August 22, 1917, she died in battle while leading her platoon during the great assault on Marasesti.

During her life Ecaterina Teodoroiu became a living legend and a patriotic icon, as was reflected in the April 17, 1917, edition of the newspaper Romania of Iasi: "Now, you, Cate-rina, have entered forever into the fairies’ ring— dance of the brave legends of our nation." Her myth grew after the 1919 unification of Romania. On June 9, 1921, on the occasion of her re-burial in the national unification monument in Targu Jiu, a great national funeral was organized in her honor.