Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi
Encyclopedia
Queen Géraldine or Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagyappony (August 6, 1915 – October 22, 2002) was the Queen Consort
of King Zog I, of the Zogu dynasty of Albania
. From the time of her marriage she was known as Queen Geraldine of the Albanians .
, Hungary
, a daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagyappony (1873–1924). Her mother was Gladys Virginia Stewart (1891–1947), an American
, daughter of millionaire
John Henry Stewart from Virginia
, a diplomat
who served as American Consul
in Antwerp, Belgium, and his wife Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding. Through her mother, Geraldine was distantly related to Richard Nixon
and poet Robert Frost
, with common ancestors in the beginning of the 17th century.
When the Empire of Austria-Hungary
collapsed, the Apponyi family went to live in Switzerland. In 1921 they returned to the Kingdom of Hungary which was stable under Regent
Miklós Horthy
.
However, when Geraldine's father died, her mother and their three children (Geraldine, Virginia, and Gyula) went to live in the resort of Menton
in the south of France
. When the Countess married a French officer, her Hungarian in-laws insisted that the children be returned to Hungary for their schooling. The girls were sent to the Sacred Heart boarding school in Pressbaum
, near Vienna
.
Her family's fortune spent, Geraldine earned a living as a shorthand typist. She also worked in the gift shop of the Budapest National Museum, where her uncle was the director.
in December 1937, after his sister had approached Geraldine on behalf of the monarch. The King had seen the young Hungarian woman's photograph. She went to Albania and within days the couple were engaged to be married. Known as the "White Rose of Hungary", Geraldine was raised to royal status as Princess Geraldine of Albania prior to her wedding.
On April 27, 1938, in Tirana
, Albania
, Geraldine married the King in a ceremony witnessed by Galeazzo Ciano
, envoy and son-in-law of Il Duce and Prime Minister of Italy, Benito Mussolini
. She was Roman Catholic and King Zog was Muslim
. They drove to their honeymoon in an open-top scarlet Mercedes-Benz
540K, a present from Adolf Hitler
. The couple had one son, H.R.H. The Crown Prince Leka Zogu (1939–2011), who is now styled 'King Leka I of the Albanians'.
Zog's rule was cut short by the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939, and the family fled the country into exile. From 1939, Geraldine and Zog lived in Greece
, Turkey
, the United Kingdom
, Egypt
, United States
, and France
. King Zog I died in Hauts-de-Seine
, France, in 1961 and their son, Crown Prince Leka was proclaimed King Leka I by the royalist government in exile. Following this, the Royal Family moved to Spain
, Rhodesia
and then South Africa
.
Queen Geraldine died at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana. After being admitted for treatment for lung disease, she suffered at least three heart attacks
, the last of which was fatal, on October 22, 2002. She was buried by the Central House of the Army with full honors, including a funeral oration at the cathedral of Shen Pjetri, on October 26, 2002, and interred in the public cemetery of Sharra, Albania, in the "VIP plot".
Her grandson, H.R.H. The Prince Leka of Albania
, accepted a medal awarded to her posthumously by the Albanian government in recognition of her charitable efforts for the people of Albania.
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Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...
of King Zog I, of the Zogu dynasty of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
. From the time of her marriage she was known as Queen Geraldine of the Albanians .
Early life
Geraldine was born in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, a daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagyappony (1873–1924). Her mother was Gladys Virginia Stewart (1891–1947), an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, daughter of millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
John Henry Stewart from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, a diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
who served as American Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in Antwerp, Belgium, and his wife Mary Virginia Ramsay Harding. Through her mother, Geraldine was distantly related to Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and poet Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
, with common ancestors in the beginning of the 17th century.
When the Empire of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
collapsed, the Apponyi family went to live in Switzerland. In 1921 they returned to the Kingdom of Hungary which was stable under Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
.
However, when Geraldine's father died, her mother and their three children (Geraldine, Virginia, and Gyula) went to live in the resort of Menton
Menton
Menton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
in the south of France
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. When the Countess married a French officer, her Hungarian in-laws insisted that the children be returned to Hungary for their schooling. The girls were sent to the Sacred Heart boarding school in Pressbaum
Pressbaum
Pressbaum is a small town in the district of Wien-Umgebung in Lower Austria, Austria.Since 1964 it has enjoyed the status of a market town ....
, near Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Her family's fortune spent, Geraldine earned a living as a shorthand typist. She also worked in the gift shop of the Budapest National Museum, where her uncle was the director.
Royal life
Geraldine was introduced to King Zog IZog of Albania
Zog I, Skanderbeg III of the Albanians , born Ahmet Muhtar Bey Zogolli, was King of the Albanians from 1928 to 1939. He was previously Prime Minister of Albania and President of Albania .-Background and early political career:...
in December 1937, after his sister had approached Geraldine on behalf of the monarch. The King had seen the young Hungarian woman's photograph. She went to Albania and within days the couple were engaged to be married. Known as the "White Rose of Hungary", Geraldine was raised to royal status as Princess Geraldine of Albania prior to her wedding.
On April 27, 1938, in Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, Geraldine married the King in a ceremony witnessed by Galeazzo Ciano
Galeazzo Ciano
Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari was an Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law. In early 1944 Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his father-in-law, Mussolini under pressure from Nazi Germany.-Early life:Ciano was born in...
, envoy and son-in-law of Il Duce and Prime Minister of Italy, Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
. She was Roman Catholic and King Zog was Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
. They drove to their honeymoon in an open-top scarlet Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
540K, a present from Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. The couple had one son, H.R.H. The Crown Prince Leka Zogu (1939–2011), who is now styled 'King Leka I of the Albanians'.
Zog's rule was cut short by the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939, and the family fled the country into exile. From 1939, Geraldine and Zog lived in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. King Zog I died in Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
, France, in 1961 and their son, Crown Prince Leka was proclaimed King Leka I by the royalist government in exile. Following this, the Royal Family moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
and then South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Later life
After her husband's death, Geraldine preferred to be known as the Queen Mother of Albania. In June 2002, Geraldine returned from South Africa to live in Tirana in Albania, after the law was changed to allow her to do so. She continued to assert that her son Leka was the legitimate King of the Albanians.Queen Geraldine died at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana. After being admitted for treatment for lung disease, she suffered at least three heart attacks
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, the last of which was fatal, on October 22, 2002. She was buried by the Central House of the Army with full honors, including a funeral oration at the cathedral of Shen Pjetri, on October 26, 2002, and interred in the public cemetery of Sharra, Albania, in the "VIP plot".
Her grandson, H.R.H. The Prince Leka of Albania
Prince Leka of Albania
Prince Leka of the Albanians is the only child of the late Leka, Crown Prince of Albania and the late Susan Cullen-Ward. Prince Leka is an official at the Albanian Ministry of Interior and in the past has served at the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs...
, accepted a medal awarded to her posthumously by the Albanian government in recognition of her charitable efforts for the people of Albania.
Titles
- nagyapponyi Apponyi Géraldine grófnő (countess, 1915–1938)
- Her Royal Highness Princess Geraldine of Albania (Geraldina, Princësh i Shqiptarë) (10 January–27 April 1938)
- Her Majesty Queen Geraldine of the Albanians (Geraldina Zog, Mbretëreshë i Shqiptarëvet) (actual title, 1938–2002)
- Her Majesty the Queen Mother of the Albanians (Nëna Mbretëreshë i Shqiptarëvet) (courtesy title, 1961–2002)
Ancestors
Further reading
- Pearson, O. S. Albania and King Zog, I.B. TaurisI.B. TaurisI. B. Tauris is an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York.-History:I.B.Tauris was founded in 1983. Its declared strategy was to fill the perceived gap between trade publishing houses and university presses—that is, to publish serious but accessible works on international...
. 2005 (ISBN 1-84511-013-7). - Tomes, Jason King Zog, Self-Made Monarch of Albania, Stroud: Sutton, 2003 ISBN 0-7509-3077-2
- Rees, Neil. A Royal Exile: King Zog & Queen Geraldine of Albania including their wartime exile in the Thames Valley and Chilterns, 2010 ISBN 978-0-9550883-1-5
- The Economist, 7 November 2002 - Queen Geraldine of Albania.
- The Independent, 24 October 2004, Obituary.
- Dedet, Joséphine Géraldine, reine des Albanais. Paris: Criterion, 1997 ISBN 2-7413-0148-4
External links
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