Lelia Constantza Băjenescu

Lore & Background

Lelia Constanța Băjenescu was born on 21 May 1908 in Corlate, Oltenia, Romania, to Gheorghe and Smaranda Petrescu. She passed her bacalaureat at the Elena Cuza high school in Craiova in 1926. In 1929 she married Telecommunication officer Ioan Titu Băjenescu, who had collaborated with dr. Alexandru Savopol to produce the first Romanian amateur radio show on short waves on 26 September 1926. Together they built the first short-wave transmission-reception radio station in Romania and laid the foundations of the CV5 radio club of Craiova in 1928.

Intrigued by her husband's radio activities, Lelia quickly joined him. With her solid education, fluency in German and French, and well-rounded culture, she learned radio essentials and Morse code by participating in the construction and commissioning of radio transmitter-receivers. She mastered all key aspects of amateur radio and became the first female amateur radio operator in Romania, using her husband's call-sign CV5BI. From 1931 to 1933 she contacted other radio amateurs from all over Europe and even Africa.

Reader's Guide

Lelia Constanța Băjenescu's significance lies in her pioneering role as the first female amateur radio operator in Romania, a field then dominated by men. Her activities from 1931 to 1933, using the call-sign CV5BI, demonstrated that women could master the technical and operational aspects of amateur radio. She made contacts across Europe and Africa, expanding the reach of Romanian amateur radio. Her involvement in building the first short-wave transmission-reception station in Romania and co-founding the CV5 radio club of Craiova in 1928 contributed to the early development of amateur radio in the country. Her legacy is preserved through the accounts of her son, Titu-Marius, who later spoke about his parents in an interview and an extended CV. The references in notable women's encyclopedias ensure her place in Romanian history.

Did You Know?

• She used her husband's call-sign CV5BI.
• She contacted radio amateurs from Europe and Africa between 1931 and 1933.