[3] Marcel Proust, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Pierre Loti, Anatole France, Claude Debussy and Charles Gounod were just a few of the great European personalities who frequented the famous artistic salon.

[4][5][6] She was born Elena Costache-Epureanu in 1855 in Bârlad, at the time in the Principality of Moldavia, as daughter of Manolache Costache Epureanu, who later became Prime Minister of Romania and his wife, Princess Maria Sturdza.

Elena Bibescu was a protectress of George Enescu, alongside Queen Elisabeth, and promoted the Romanian musician among the French elite.

[8] She was a student of the pivotal figure of Russian culture, pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein at the Vienna Conservatory, one of the most prestigious institutions of its kind in the world.

[10][11] After returning to Romania in October 1902 and residing in the family's manor in Epureni, a few kilometers away from Bârlad, Elena was transported to Iași after falling ill from cancer.