Romanian painter, sculptor, and puppet maker, considered one of the founders of modern Romanian puppet theatre. Ioana Bassarab exhibited her work at the Salon d’automne in Paris in 1923 and in 1929. That same year she received two awards at the National Exposition in Bucharest.

In 1929-1930, she adapted two plays by Count Franz von Pocci (1807-1876), Păcală the Portrait Artist and Motanul încălțat (Puss in Boots), and created their design for the theatre of Theodore Nastasi. Her style, which was influenced by Cubism, Art Deco, and the Bauhaus School, heralded modern Romanian stage design.  

(See Romania.)