Ileana Sararoiu (Romanian: Ileana Sărăroiu) (25 September 1936 – 12 May 1979) was a renowned Romanian singer of traditional and popular folk music. While not as famous as Maria Tănase, she still remains one of the most important Romanian female folk singers alongside Maria Tănase, Maria Lătăretu (belonging to the first generation of great Romanian folk singers), or Maria Ciobanu (belonging to the second). Her song-masterpieces, according to Romanian experts, are: "Doi voinici din Valea Mare" (Two Handsome Lads from the Big Valley) and "Unde e Targovistea" (Where is My Beloved Targoviste). The first is a song about two lads who went hunting but, instead, they encountered two sisters to whom they got married. The second is a story of a sad mother who waits for her son in a train station from a Romanian town. She does not see anybody came except a girl who she has never seen before. The girl turns out to be the wife of her son.
Sadly, during a wedding party where she was singing, Ileana Sararoiu suddenly collapsed and died from a brain aneurysm in 1979 at the age of 42.
