Born: 1 August 1815, Romania
Died: 27 September 1859
Country most active: Romania
Also known as: Maria Văcărescu, Marițica Ghica
In addition to being a poet, Marițica Bibescu was the princess-consort of Wallachia in modern-day Romania from September 1845 to June 1848. A member of the aristocratic Văcărescu family, she was orphaned at a young age and raised by family and friends, including Prince Alexandru II Ghica, whose brother, Spatharios Costache Ghica, she married in 1834. The Ghicas were the ruling family until 1842, when Alexandru was deposed. Her husband ran in the princely election of 1842–1843, but although he lost, Marițica became the mistress of the winner and thus new ruler, Gheorghe Bibescu. He was also her third cousin and married to her godmother, but divorced his wife in 1844 to marry Marițica – who had already borne him a child – the next year.
Political unrest between her conservative husband and liberal groups contributed to the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, and Marițica and Gheorghe eventually fled to the Austrian empire. After the revolution was quelled by the Ottoman and Russian Empires, the throne was given to Gheorghe’s brother. The couple lived in Istanbul and later Paris, where Marițica died in 1859 from cancer.