Pioneer of Romanian aviation, a Russian refugee from the Bolshevik revolution, married to a Bessarabian nobleman, she obtained her pilot’s license at the age of 35 and embarked on a remarkable career as a sports pilot.

In 1938, she was the only woman to take part in the Prague-Bucharest-Belgrade-Bratislava rally and was awarded the Aeronautical Virtue of Peace Medal the same year.

During World War II, she served as a pilot in the famous “White Squadron” (on the Romanian side) in the battles on the Eastern Front. Her primary mission was to evacuate the wounded, thus saving hundreds of lives. After the war, she was imprisoned and deported to the Bărăgan.

She died in Bucharest on January 22, 1988, and was buried at the Resurrection Cemetery in Bucharest.

In Chisinau, a street in the Râșcani sector is named after her.