Historic preservationist
Elina Amann, edited by Alla Vronskaya, last edited on 05.06.2023
Name:
Rodica Mănciulescu
Life Dates:
1917 – 1977
Country:
Employers:
Ion Mincu Architectural Institute
Directorate of Historic Monuments (DMI)
Field of expertise:
Historic preservation
Education:
Ion Mincu Architectural Institute (1944)
Rodica Mănciulescu (maiden name unknown) was born in 1917 in Ekaterinodar (today, Krasnodar), Russia. Her father died in the first world war, and as a result, she had to go through a hard childhood. She was eventually able to move to Romania and graduated from Ion Mincu Institute of Architecture in Bucharest in 1944. She married Paul Mănciulescu, an architect, with whom she had two children, both of whom also became architects.
After working as an assistant at the Ion Mincu Architectural Institute between 1945 and 1952, she moved to the Directorate of Historic Monuments (DMI), where she remained until 1977. During this time, she completed numerous historic preservation projects, particularly for sacred buildings. Among them is the Cathedral of St. Mihail (1349 – 1450) in Alba Iulia. The cathedral was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style in the mid-19th century, and in the 1960s, Mănciulescu replaced the neo-Gothic brick arches with a traditional-looking rib system made of reinforced concrete and supported by a network of beams. Mănciulescu also worked on the restoration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Royal Church and St. Vineri Church in Targoviste, the Matia Reformed Church in Cluj-Napoca, and the Cutui Kula in Brosteni. She was engaged in the projects of the restoration of the Marcuta Monastery in Bucharest, the Cozia Monastery in Călimănești, and the Rasca Monastery in Dumbrăveni.
Mănciulescu died tragically during the 1977 earthquake in Bucharest.
Cristina Mănciulescu and Ștefan Mănciulescu, “Arhitect Rodica Mănciulescu: 100 de ani de la naștere,” Revista Monumentelor Istorice, No.1, 2017, Post ’90: 138-147. Availalbe online: https://biblioteca-digitala.ro/reviste/revista-monumentelor-istorice/RMI-2017_138-Manciulescu-Manciulescu.pdf
Lazăr, Mihaela, and Marilena Negulescu, “Romanian Women Architects în Preserving Cultural Heritage” in Seražin, Helena, Emilia Garda, and Caterina Franchini, eds., Women’s Creativity since the Modern Movement (1918-2018): Toward a New Perception and Reception. Ljubljana: MoMoWo, 2018, 311-320.
Fig. 1: Image in public domain. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Biserica_Domnească_Adormirea_Maicii_Domnului_(3).jpg (last accessed on 05.06.2023)
Fig. 2: Image in public domain. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Cathedral,_Alba_Iulia#/media/File:AlbaIulia_CatedralaCatolica2.jpg (last accessed on 05.06.2023)
Fig. 3: Image in public domain. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Cathedral,_Alba_Iulia#/media/File:Catedrala_romano-catolica_%22Sf._Mihail%22.jpg (last accessed on 05.06.2023)
Fig. 4: Image in public domain. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mărcuța_Monastery,_Bucharest#/media/File:Marcuta_Monestery_front_view.JPG (last accessed on 05.06.2023)
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