Geraldine from Apponyi
Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (born August 6, 1915 in Budapest , † October 22, 2002 in Tirana ) was the Queen of Albania .
Life
family
She was the first child of Count Julius Apponyi de Nagy-Appony (1873-1924) and the American Gladys Virginia Stewart (1891-1947). The Apponyi counts are an old Hungarian noble family . Geraldine had two siblings: Virginia (1916-2002) and Julius (1923-1946). After the father's death, the mother married a French officer. The relatives, however, demanded that the children grow up in Hungary. So she attended the Sacré Coeur School in Pressbaum and spent the holidays with her grandmother in Budapest.
Queen of Albania
The family gradually ran into financial difficulties. The castle in what is now Appony , Slovakia, had to be sold. Geraldine, considered one of the most beautiful nobles of her time, worked in the kiosk of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest and often attended the balls of the aristocratic upper class when asked if she wanted to be the wife of the Albanian king. King Zogu I of Albania, who was 20 years his senior , had been looking for a wife for a long time.
His search had not turned out to be easy, as the potential wife was supposed to come from the European nobility on the one hand , in order to improve his lowly aristocratic origin, and on the other hand was not allowed to come from a country that had power-political interests in Albania. Zogu had himself proclaimed King of the Albanians on September 1, 1928 . From 1925 until his proclamation as king, he was president of the country. Before that, he held a number of ministerial posts (including Minister of the Interior and Minister of War) and was meanwhile also Prime Minister.
His state had become financially and politically dependent on Italy . The marriage was supposed to solve the foreign policy dependency. Domestically, the Muslim Zogu hoped to reduce resistance from the Christian minority by marrying a Catholic woman. Based on a photograph of her portrait that Zogu had seen, Geraldine was invited to Tirana for New Year's Eve 1937, where she accepted his proposal of marriage.
Countess Geraldine and King Zogu I married on April 27, 1938 in the Albanian capital Tirana. Despite cultural differences - the Pope had refused to consent to the marriage - the Queen is said to have quickly settled in at the small Albanian court and won the hearts of the population. In extensive trips she was shown the country and she accepted the expressions of loyalty from loyal Beys .
On April 5, 1939, Queen Geraldine gave birth to a son, Leka I. Only two days later , Italian soldiers landed on the Albanian coast and occupied the country.
exile
The royal family fled to Greece with part of the state treasure . During the Second World War she stayed in Paris and later in London . Zogu I. tried to establish a government-in-exile and contacts to Albania, but this venture failed.
The royal consort never set foot on Albanian soil again. In the 1950s, the royal family lived in Egypt as a guest of King Faruq . Because of the Albanian descent of his dynasty , the Egyptian ruler felt connected to Albania. After his fall, the family moved to the French Côte d'Azur . After Zogu became seriously ill in Egypt, he died of stomach cancer on April 9, 1961 in a hospital near Paris .
Further years of exile followed for Geraldine in Spain and later in South Africa with her son Leka, who lived there as a businessman.
Return to Albania and death
In the turmoil after the end of the communist government in Albania, Leka said that he wanted to continue the monarchy . In 1993 he visited his homeland for the first time, but was expelled from the country after a twenty-four hour stay because he had entered with a “royal” passport that he had made himself.
On June 15, 2002, the press service of the Royal House of Albania announced the final return of the entire Royal Family of Albania to their homeland. Queen Geraldine and her family were able to set foot on Albanian soil again on June 28, 2002 after 64 years of exile.
Queen Geraldine of Albania died on October 22, 2002 in Tirana Military Hospital.
literature
- Gwen Robyns: Geraldine of the Albanians. The Authorized Biography . Muller, Blond & WHite, London 1987, ISBN 0-584-11133-9 .
Remarks
- ↑ In contrast to all other sources (especially information from the family), Gwen Robyns' bibliography names 1916 as the year of birth.
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert Elsie: "Historical Dictionary of Albania", Scarecrow Press Inc., Plymouth 2010, pp. 15f.
- ↑ Edgar Hösch et al. a. (Ed.): "Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe", Böhlauverlag GmbH and Co. KG, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2004, p. 34
- ↑ http://www.browsebiography.com/bio-geraldine_apponyi_de.html
- ↑ Altin Ilirjani, Arolda Elbasani, Ridvan Peshkopia (eds.): "Albanian Journal of Politics 2005", Globic Press, Chapel Hill (USA) 2006, p. 180
- ↑ a b The House of Zogu. In: The Royal Ark. Accessed December 22, 2015 .
| predecessor | Office | Successor |
|---|---|---|
| - | Queen of Albania 1938–1939 |
Elena of Montenegro |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Apponyi, Geraldine from |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Geraldine Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, Queen Geraldine of Albania |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hungarian-Albanian noblewoman, Queen of Albania |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 6, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Budapest |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 22, 2002 |
| Place of death | Tirana |