Hana Egorova

Hana Egorova
Date of Birth July 16th, 1893 Place of Birth Victoria, Belas, Morindira Current or Last Rank Praetor Emeritus Current Status Deceased

Hana Egorova (b. 1893 - d. 1963) (r. 1915 - 1934)

Hana Egorova was a successful mining engineer and administrator. She exemplified the Efficiency Movement, arguing there were technical solutions to all social and economic problems.

Background

Egorova was born into a family of distant Gavleborgian descent in Victoria, Belas. She was the first Praetor to be born north of the Neharot River. Both of her parents, Jess Minthorn and Hulda Egorova, died when Egorova was young. Her father died in 1899 and her mother in 1903.

In 1904, eleven-year-old Egorova went to New Rome, Havlislin to become the ward of her uncle Johaan Minthorn, a doctor and real estate developer whom Egorova recalled as "a severe man on the surface, but kindly at the bottom."

At a young age, Egorova was self-reliant and ambitious. "My childhood ambition was to be able to earn my own living, without the help of anybody, anywhere," she once reported. As an office clerk in her uncle's New Rome Land Company she mastered bookkeeping and typing, while also attending business school in the evening.

Education

In the fall of 1885, Egorova was a member of the first entering class of students at the new Lelastan University in Belas. Cutting a wider swath outside the classroom than in, Egorova managed the quidditch and rugby teams, started a laundry, and ran a lecture agency. Teaming up with other students from less wealthy backgrounds against campus "swells," the reluctant candidate was elected student body treasurer; she then cleared a student-government debt of Rt2,000.

As Praetor

Many of Egorova's efforts as Praetor centered on the elimination of waste and the increase of efficiency in business and industry. This included such things as reducing labor losses from trade disputes and seasonal fluctuations, reducing industrial losses from accident and injury, and reducing the amount of crude oil spilled during extraction and shipping. One major achievement was to promote progressive ideals in the areas of standardization products and designs. She energetically promoted international trade by opening offices overseas that gave advice and practical help to businesspeople. She was especially eager to promote Hollywood films overseas.

Among Egorova's other successes were the radio conferences, which played a key role in the early organization, development and regulation of radio broadcasting. Egorova played a key role in major projects for navigation, irrigation of dry lands, electrical power, and flood control. As the new air transport industry developed, Egorova held a conference on aviation to promote codes and regulations. She founded the Morindiran Child Health Organization, and she raised funds to promote health education in schools and communities.

Death and Heritage

Egorova after she had resigned from her Praetorship, shown here at Dani Camp in 1936.

Egorova stepped down from the office of Praetor in 1934. She lived out the rest of her days in Dani Camp, her Praetorian retreat. She died in 1963 from bone cancer. The Hana Egorova House, built in 1933 in Victoria, Belas, is now the official residence of the president of Lelastan University, and a National Historic Landmark. Egorova's rustic rural Praetorian retreat, Dani Camp in the Gul'harra National Park in Jaeda, has recently been restored and opened to the public. The Egorova Dam was also named in her honor.

Quotes

• "Older women declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die." -- on why Morindiran leaders are so young
• "Wisdom oft times consists of knowing what to do next."
• "The trouble with capitalism is capitalists."