Roxandra Sturdza

Roxandra or Roksandra Sturdza
Portrait of 1830-e as Roksandra Sturdza
Born	October 12, 1786 Constantinople
Died	January 16, 1844 (aged 58) Odessa, Russia
Nationality	Russian
Other names	Roksandra, Alexandra, Roxana, Roxane
Title	Countess
Spouse(s)	Albert-gaetan Edling (Count) (1771-1841)
Parents	Skarlat Sturdza (father) Sultana Sturdza-Mourousi (mother)
Family	Sturdza

Roxandra or Roxana or Roksandra Skarlatovna Edling-Sturdza (1786 – 1844) was a philanthropist and a writer. Her chief achievement was the foundation of schools and orphanages for the young and needy refugees in Odessa during the years of wars and revolutions in the Balkans. She was a grandchild of the Grand Dragoman of Prince of Moldavia Constantine Mourousis; that and her own actions, vision, will and determination made her a prolific advocate of young refugee needs all over Europe.

Princess Roxandra was born on 12 October 1786, Constantinople. Her parents were Skarlat Sturdza and Sultana Sturdza-Mourousi (1762-1839). Roxandra was a sister of Alexandru Sturdza and cousin of the Prince of Moldavia Mihail Sturdza. In 1790, the Sturdza family moved to Iasi (Iași) Moldavia and then in 1800 settled in Saint Petersburg where Roxandra continued her education in Russian and Greek. In 1806 she became the master of ceremonies at the court of Alexander I of Russia and his wife Empress Louise of Baden. In 1809, Roxandra met Ioannis Kapodistrias the then Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire. This event was of great inspirational value and as a result the cultivated Roxandra was imbued with a sense of social purpose and philhellenism.

Roxandra’s maternal grandfather was the Prince of Moldavia, Constantine Mourousis (1730-1783). The Mourousis family was from the Greek Phanar neighbourhood of Constantinople. Members of this large family were cultural and political leaders of the Christian ottoman subjects who assured a path of political ascendancy for the descendents. Roxandra’s father Skarlat Sturdza, a notable alumnus of Princely Academy of Iași, was a scion of the long Moldavian Sturdza family of Greek ancestry whose members were active in humanitarian affairs since the 16th century or earlier. Soon after the Sturdza family emigrated from Moldavia to Saint Petersburg, Russia, Skarlat became Elizabeth Alexeievna (Louise of Baden)’s counselor.