Princess Marina Sturdza, the descendant of two Romanian princely families, Sturdza and Sutu, died on Sunday, October 22, at her residence in New York, according to an announcement on her Facebook page. She was 65 and she had been battling with illness in the last years of her life.

The heir of two princely families that ruled in the Romanian principalities in the 19th century, Marina Sturdza was taken out of the country when she was only three, as her family ran from the communist regime. She spent most of her life in Canada before returning to Romania in 1990, after the Revolution.

The princess is best known for her charity work and for her involvement in promoting Romania abroad. She has patronized several charities in the last years of her life, namely Hope and Homes for Children, Hospices of Hope Casa Speranței, FARA Romania, Hospice Angelus – Moldova, The Saint Dimitrie Social Center for Children, and Mara Society in New York.

She has also organized several important charity events, such as the Art for Children auction for abandoned children, in 2014.

Between 1992 and 1997, she organized, coordinated and developed the UNICEF postcard program.

Princess Marina Sturdza was a board member of the Pro Patrimonio foundation, active in saving Romania’s architecture and immaterial patrimony. She was directly involved in a project for saving 60 wooden churches in Northern Oltenia and Southern Transylvania. She was also involved in revitalizing the Saxon villages in Transylvania.

She has also worked as a fashion and arts journalist for almost three decades, writing for big publications in Canada, where she spent most of her life. She was vice-president for Oscar de la Renta.

The princess has used her international business connections to organize business events to promote Romania, such as the International Herald Tribune’s Romania Investment Summit, in November 1997.

She was also a deputy president of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce (BRCC) for many years, where she also patronized the social responsibility program.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Princess Marina Sturdza - In Memoriam Facebook page)