Russo Nadejda

About

Considered one of the great ladies of Romanian aviation, Nadia Russo defied the rigors of her time to see her dreams realized. She fled the Russian Revolution, went through an unsuccessful marriage in Chisinau, and at the age of 35, obtained her pilot's license in Romania. Drawn to flying, two years later she realized another dream – she bought her own plane, with which she participated in a long series of competitions where she achieved remarkable results. During World War II, Nadia Russo was one of the first female pilots of the White Squadron, with whom she saved the lives of Romanian and German soldiers. Nadia Russo was born in Tver, near Moscow, on June 17, 1901, into the family of cavalry general Evgheni Vasilievici Brjozovski. It was an old aristocratic family with roots in the history of imperial Russia. She was orphaned in 1912, and in 1915, her father also died on the front. After the Bolshevik revolution, in 1918, helped by a former subordinate of her father, Nadia – accompanied by her sister – managed to flee from revolutionary Russia and took refuge in Bessarabia, which was part of the Kingdom of Romania. A few years later, in 1925, relatives in Chișinău, where she was living, married her to a Bessarabian landowner, Alexandru (Sașa) Russo, an old nobleman from the famous Russo lineage. He was much older than her, owned vast landholdings and sheep farms. From 1932 to 1934, Nadia attended the nursing courses organized by the Red Cross in Chișinău. During the same period, she also attended art school. In a world where women did not yet have the right to vote, Nadia took her destiny into her own hands: she separated from Sașa Russo and came to Bucharest, where she learned to fly at the "Mircea Cantacuzino" Flying School. She obtained pilot licenses of the I and II grade and thus became the holder of the 9th female pilot license in Romanian aviation. After obtaining her license, Nadia Russo fulfilled another dream, that of owning her own airplane. In 1937, she managed to buy a personal airplane, a Bucker 131 "Jungmann," which she registered as YR-NAD. Half of the cost of the airplane was covered by the Ministry of Air. On June 28, 1938, she participated in an air rally in Chișinău, where she flew her newly purchased personal airplane. In 1938, she participated in the Little Entente Rally, being the only competitor to cover the 4000 kilometers alone, without a co-pilot. For her performance at the rally, King Carol II awarded her the Order of "Aeronautical Virtue" of peace, Gold Cross class. The summer of 1940 brought Nadia Russo's ex-husband, Sașa Russo, to Bucharest as a refugee. He had lost everything in Bessarabia. He appeared accompanied by a young Russian woman, and both were hosted by Nadia. The two women became friends, and Nadia even went so far as to insistently urge her ex-husband to marry the girl he had come with. When World War II began, Nadia Russo became part of the White Squadron. the only unit with planes piloted solely by women, which bore the insignia of the Red Cross and had the mission of evacuating the wounded from the front. Thus, she rescued hundreds of wounded soldiers from field hospitals near Odesa and Stalingrad. The press from across the Prut River writes that Nadia and her colleagues enjoyed great popularity, especially due to the photo reports from the front, published in Romanian and German magazines. For example, in an article titled "The Sanitary Squadron," published in 1943 in the magazine "Aripi Românești" (Romanian Wings), Nadia is called "the Bessarabian woman of the most authentic and Romanian stock," although her Russian origin was known. The aviation activities of young women also awaken recognition from the state. Nadia Russo, like the other three female aviators of the White Squadron, is decorated with the Order of "Aeronautical Virtue". She continued to participate in the Odessa campaign until November, flying from the Tighina airfield close to the front line, to the points from where she picked up the wounded to transport them back to the military hospitals in Tighina or directly to Bucharest. In May 1943, Nadia withdrew from the front for health reasons. After the war, despite her recognized merits, Nadia Russo was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison. From 1957, she was forced to five years of house arrest in Lătești (Bărăgan). Here she also met her future husband – Gheorghe Bossie, who was ten years younger. In 1962, she escaped house arrest and traveled around Romania looking for a job. She got a job in Buftea, at a packaging factory. In 1986, her husband died. Without a pension, Nadia Russo spent her last years in poverty. Suffering from amnesia, she passed away on January 22, 1988. Writer and researcher Iurie Colesnic mentions that in Chișinău, one of the streets (formerly Raskova), located in the Râșcani sector, bears her name today. The location was not chosen by chance; this used to be Chișinău's aerodrome, and Nadia had landed here several times when visiting Bessarabia.