Rallou Karatza

Rallou Karatza-Argyropoulos (also rendered as Karatzis, Caradja and Karadja; Greek: Ραλλού Καρατζά Αργυροπούλου [raˈlu karaˈdza]; Romanian: Ralu Caragea Arghiropol [raˈlu karaˈdʒe̯a], commonly Domnița Ralu, "Lady Ralu"; Turkish: Ralu Karaca Argiropolis; 1799 – 16 April 1870) was a Phanariote Greek actress, theater director, and dramaturge, also noted as a participant in the Greek War of Independence. She was the second daughter of John Caradja, the Prince of Wallachia (reigned 1812–1818), and thus a prominent member of the Caradja family. She was also the wife of John's trusted courtier Georgios Argyropoulos, which also made her titular consort to the Great Banship of Oltenia in 1812–1813. While still a teenager, she was an arbiter of fashion and a promoter of Westernization, as well as, allegedly, a serial seducer. In 1816 or 1818, Rallou convinced her father to finance her artistic projects, and founded the first court theater, at Cișmeaua Roșie of Bucharest. This project, also involving figures such as Costache Aristia and Iordache Slătineanu, made her a participant in the Modern Greek Enlightenment, and supposedly the first Greek-language director. Her pivotal role in both Modern Greek and Romanian theater is widely acknowledged, clashing with the more controversial aspects of her youth—including her endorsement of her father's corruption and her own acts of despotism, such as a sartorial ban on the color white.

A subject of the Ottoman Empire, Rallou was won over by Greek nationalism, to the point of advocating emancipation from Ottoman rule. Her activity at the theater reflected her sympathy for, and possible initiation by, the Filiki Eteria. Her and her father's cultivation of the Eterists was abruptly ended in late 1818, when the threat of an Ottoman backlash forced the Caradjas out of Wallachia.