The funeral monument Vorvoreanu is situated in the Ungureni cemetery and it was executed by Raffaello Romanelli, Italian sculptor, who realized over 300 plastic works, 40 of them existing in Romania. Many others are found in the city Detroit, Michigan and the United States of Romania.
The statue was created in 1898, representing in a natural height the millionaire from Craiova, Gogu Vorvoreanu, in a distinguished attitude, imposing.
The descendants from the former Hellas, from the land of Homer and Ulysses, the Vorvoreni stepped in Oltenia at the end of the XVIIIth century. In a very short time they managed to rise from the ranks among the first families from Craiova.
The earnestness in the work and especially the ingenuity of managing every income made that this line of nobles to leave to the posterity inestimable values.
The spearhead in the genealogy of this ancestry was, without any doubt, Gogu Vorvoreanu (1840 – 1911).
An outstanding personality in the life of the city, Gogu covered with success the itinerary of a more than generous career.
Doctor in law and lawyer of international prestige, fulfilled, in turn, the following dignities: mayor of Craiova, President of the County Council, member of the Court of Appeal Craiova, General Procurator, deputy, president of the Council of Administration of the Bank of Commerce and Commander of the Order “The Star of Romania”, Great Officer of the Order “the Crown of Romania” and active member of the Liberal Party.
Among his incontestable quality and the political agility which he was always capable of, Gogu Vorvoreanu was also a great philanthropist. He showed this quality especially during the time of the War of Independence, between the years 1877 – 1878, when, at the request of His Majesty Carol I, King of Romania, he transformed one of his apartments into a hospital for taking care of the injured.
He got married with the distinguished Miss Polina Vrăbiescu, descendant of a family of great land owners, good situated in the Bourgeois hierarchy of Craiova.
God blessed them with nine offspring, three boys and six girls: Aurelia, Zoe, Eliza, Constantin, Polineta, Ioan, Eleonora, Angela and Gheorghe. From the later marriages, the Vorvoreni succeeded in dominating the entire city life. In the genealogical tree there appeared new names such as: Pleşia, Geblescu, Călinescu, Brătăşianu or Prodan, names with resonance in the social position, wealth or career. Despite all of these, in the family chronicle we can also discover the sad part of the history. From the command of God, four of the offspring of the Vorvoreni, Ioan, Goguleț, Eleonora and Angela, were called from a young age to heaven. Despite these attempts, Gogu and Polina had much to learn. They realized that nothing can be realized without a sacrifice, that from God are all and that to Him they must come back.
The philanthropic side of the Vorvoreanu family is obvious from the charity works and the donations which Polina made to many places of worship from Oltenia.