Romania: Virginia Andreescu Haret

Born in 1894 in Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania (modern-day Romania), Virginia Andreescu Haret studied at the Superior School of Architecture in Bucharest, becoming one of the first women to graduate with a diploma in architecture in Romania (1919). During World War I, she paused her education to work as a nurse. After graduation, Haret traveled to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (modern-day Slovenia, Serbia, and Croatia), and to Rome, Italy, to further her architectural education. When she returned to Romania she worked in technical services of the Ministry of Public Education (c. 1923–1947), where she was the first woman architect promoted to the role of Architectural Inspector General. She worked for the Ministry of Public Education until her retirement (1947). Haret was the first woman to obtain membership to the Polytechnic Society of Romanian (1933), was a member of the Union of Architects and of the Technical Body of Architects (c. 1932), and the Society of Romanian Architects, where she was the only woman to serve on the editorial board for the Society’s Bulletin. She represented Romania at international congresses and conferences for architecture hosted in Brussels, Paris, Rome, Moscow, and Berlin. Haret died in 1962 in Bucharest, Romania.