Filip and Rașela Focșăneanu

On Anton Pann Street, at 44-46, in the heart of old Bucharest, there is a building that witnessed the social and educational changes in Romania at the beginning of the 20th century. Known as the Focșăneanu School for Girls, it became a landmark of Jewish female education, established thanks to the generosity of the Filip and Rașela Focșăneanu family, at the initiative of the great rabbi Dr. Meir Beck.

"Taking counsel with this enlightened spirit, Filip Focșăneanu decided to build a secondary school for girls in his house in Anton Pan Street, as there was none of this kind in the whole country and our girls had nowhere to receive a healthy culture and a well-groomed education."¹

Originally intended to be the Focșăneanu family's residence, the building was transformed into an educational institution designed to meet an essential community need: access to education.

In a tense political climate, marked by the provisions of the 1866 Constitution, wh