DORA D'ISTRIA, d5fra (1828-88).
A pseudonym of Ilelen Ghika, Princ,?ss Koltzoff Alassalsky. She the niece of Prince Alexan der Ghika, liospodar of Wallachia, and was born at Bucharest, January 22, 1828. Thoroughly in structed in the classics under the care of Profes sor Pappadopoulos, she added to these by frequent travels through Germany. France, and Italy an extensive knowledge of modern languages and lit erature. At the age of fifteen she commenced a translation of the Iliad into German, and not long afterwards wrote several pieces for the the atre. After her marriage with Prince Koltzolf Massalsky she accompanied her husband to the Court of Saint Petersburg. Iler first important work, La. vie monastique dons Vt'glise orientate, was published at Paris and Geneva in 1855. This was followed by two works. Gli croi della Runtcnia and I Rumeni cd it papal°. Iler studies in Swit zerland resulted in a work entitled La Suisse allemande. She received an official invitation in
1865 to attend the sixth centenary festival'in honor of the birthday of Dante. This event she described vividly in Paerinage an toenbcuu de Dante. In 1867 she went to Venice to examine the ample archives of that city: but the first thing she did was to publish Fenisc cn 1867. Afterwards she showed the fruits of her re searches in Lcs Albanais musulntans and Gli lbanesi nab: Rumenia ; storia dci prineipi (Mika nci smolt. XVIII., XI..V. (1873). In IS6S she gave some account of her own active life in Di aleune opere della prineipessa Dora d7stria, a work which reappeared in 1871 under the title, Dora distria e la poesia albancsc. Her work, Des femmes peer une femme (1864), was translated into Russian, Italian, and English. She died at Florence, November 17, ISS8.