A French Army general named Ecaterina Teodoroiu the “Joan of Arc of Romania.”
In honor of Women’s History Month, The National Interest now concludes our five-part series honoring some of history’s most badass female warriors. Thus far, we’ve covered Soviet female warriors of World War II (aka, “The Great Patriotic War”), namely sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, fighter pilots aces Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak and Yekaterina “Kayta” Budanova, and the bomber pilots known as the “Night Witches.”
We also discussed a couple of twenty-first-century female warriors from the good old United States, who pulled off their feats of derring-do as pilots of the A-10 Warthog, namely retired U.S. Air Force Colonels Kim “KC (Killer Chick)” Campbell and Martha McSally.
Now, we wrap up our series by discussing a female soldier who hailed from a country that had suffered the misfortune of spending several decades of its existence as a Soviet satellite state but is nowadays a firm ally of the United States and a NATO member nation to boot: Romania. However, our female Romanian soldier lived, fought, and died long before either the Warsaw Pact or NATO even existed. Say “Buna ziua” (“Good afternoon” or just plain “Hello”) to Sublocotenent (second lieutenant) Ecaterina Teodoroiu, the first female Romanian Army officer and heroine of World War I.
Ecaterina Teodoroiu’s Early Life
Ecaterina Teodoroiu (birth name Cătălina Toderoiu) was born on January 14, 1894, in the village of Vădeni (now part of Târgu Jiu), in the historical region of Oltenia, in what was then officially known as the Kingdom of Romania, to Elena and Vasile Toderoiu, both farmers. She was one of eight children (brothers Nicolae, Eftimie, Andrei, Ion, Vasile; sisters Elisabeta and Sabina).
Even before making military history, young Ecaterina helped make history in a small way by joining the first female Romanian Scout troop. Her initial intended career vocation was as a teacher; however, the Kingdom of Romania’s entry into World War I on the side of the Allies in August 1916 would alter the course of her all-too-brief but nevertheless highly impactful life’s work.
Ecaterina Teodoroiu’s Wartime Service
Teodoroiu began her wartime service as a nurse. However, she was deeply moved by the patriotism of the wounded and the death of her brother Nicolae (an army sergeant at the time), leading her to make the bold and groundbreaking decision to become a frontline soldier. Not surprisingly, her newfound career ambitions initially ran afoul of bureaucratic and societal obstacles, but her persistence and dogged determination eventually paid off.
As described in detail by the Romanian Cultural Institute (RCI) of London as part of a commemoration of Romania’s centenary:
“Ecaterina Teodoroiu distinguished herself by defending a strategic bridge during the campaign to secure the Jiu Pass, where she acquired the famous cognomen ‘the Heroine of the Jiu’. Despite Romanians’s [sic] fierce defence, the Germans pierced the front and she was taken prisoner. Shortly thereafter, however, she was back in action after a most daring escape that further contributed to her fame. At the end of 1916, Ecaterina was seriously wounded and spent several weeks in a military hospital in Iași. In 1917, her bravery was rewarded with the ‘Scout Virtue’ Medal in gold, the Military Virtue Medal 2nd Class and Military Virtue Medal 1st Class. She was also made honorary Second Lieutenant by Queen Marie and given the command of a platoon of the 43/59 Infantry Regiment. Ecaterina was killed on September 3, 1917, during the Battle of Mărășești as she led her platoon into combat. Although in agony, she managed to mutter a few last words of encouragement to her comrades.”
Ecaterina was just twenty-three years old at the time of her death.
It’s worth noting that the Battle of Mărășești is considered the most significant victory in the history of the Romanian Army. Lt. Teodoroiu was one of 17,000 Romanian troops killed or wounded in that engagement, in exchange for 16,000 casualties inflicted upon the German Ninth Army, including their commanding officer, Generalleutnant (lieutenant general) Karl Ritter von Wenninger.
Ecaterina Teodoroiu’s Legacy and Tributes
Initially buried close to the front, in Fitioneşti, Lt. Teodoroiu’s remains were interred in their final resting place in a crypt in the city center of Târgu Jiu in June 1921, where a monument was erected in her honor by famed sculptor Milița Petrașcu in 1936. French Army General Henri Mathias Berthelot even went so far as to name her the “Joan of Arc of Romania.”
Since 2021, Ecaterina Teodoroiu has been featured on the 20-lei banknote (the equivalent of $4.37 at the current exchange rate), the nation’s first legal tender banknote that only features a woman.
Meanwhile, regarding Lt. Teodoroiu’s lasting legacy in the ranks of the 21st century Romanian Armed Forces (Forțele Armate Române or Armata Română), a 2011 report for the “Henri Coandă” Air Force Academy by Brînduşa Maria Popa showed that women constituted a total of 5 percent of the Armed Forces ranks, with 31.3 percent of the commissioned officers serving in combat role, and 1.4 percent filling leadership billets as commanding officers. One particularly noteworthy individual that must’ve had Lt. Teodoroiu smiling down from heaven was then-Lt. Simona Măierean (now a lieutenant commander), who on March 13, 2009, flew the MiG-21 “Fishbed” jet fighter and thus became the first Romanian female pilot to fly a supersonic warbird. Bravo Zulu!
About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ) and 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
