Elena of Montenegro
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| Elena of Montenegro | |||||
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Elena in 1900
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| Queen consort of Italy | |||||
| Tenure | 29 July 1900 – 9 May 1946 | ||||
| Empress consort of Ethiopia | |||||
| Tenure | 9 May 1936 – 5 May 1941 | ||||
| Queen consort of the Albanians | |||||
| Tenure | 16 April 1939 – 8 September 1943 | ||||
| Born | 8 January 1873 Cetinje, Montenegro |
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| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Montpellier, France |
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| Burial | Montpellier Municipal Cemetery, France | ||||
| Spouse | Victor Emmanuel III of Italy | ||||
| Issue | Yolanda, Countess of Bergolo Mafalda, Princess Philipp of Hesse Umberto II of Italy Giovanna, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria Maria Francesca, Princess Luigi of Parma |
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| House | Petrović-Njegoš | ||||
| Father | Nicholas I of Montenegro | ||||
| Mother | Milena Vukotić | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic prev. Eastern Orthodox |
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| Signature |  |
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| Styles of Queen Elena |
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| Reference style | Her Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
| Alternative style | Ma'am |
Princess Elena Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro (8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) nicknamed Jela was the daughter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and his wife, Milena Vukotić. As wife of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, she was Queen of Italy from 1900 until 1946.
Contents
Biography
Marriage
As the result of Elena's marriage to King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy on 24 October 1896, she converted to Catholicism and became Queen of Italy when her husband acceded to the throne in 1900. Her mother was so distressed with the fact that Elena had changed her religion that she refused to come to the wedding ceremony in Rome.
Due to the Fascist conquest of Ethiopia in 1936 and Albania in 1939, Queen Elena briefly used the claimed titles of Empress of Ethiopia and Queen of Albania; both titles were dropped when her husband formally renounced them in 1943.
She influenced her husband to lobby Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy, for the creation of the independent Kingdom of Montenegro in 1941. In 1943 she subsequently obtained the release from a German prison of her nephew, Prince Michael of Montenegro, and his wife, Geneviève. Prince Michael had been imprisoned after refusing to become King of Montenegro under the protection of Italy.
The Queen and the wars
On 11 August 1901, following his father's assassination, Victor Emmanuel ascended the Italian throne. Officially, Elena assumed her husband's whole titles: she became Queen of Italy, and with the birth of the Italian Colonial Empire she became Queen of Albania and Empress of Ethiopia.
On 28 December 1908 Messina was hit by a disastrous earthquake. Queen Elena helped with the rescuers, as some photographs show. This helped to increase her popularity within the country. During the First World War Elena worked as a nurse and, with the help of the Queen Mother, she turned Quirinal Palace and Villa Margherita into hospitals. To raise funds, she invented the "signed photograph", which was sold at the charity desks. At the end of the war, she proposed to sell the crown treasures in order to pay the war debts.
Elena was the first Inspector of the Voluntary Nurses for the Italian Red Cross from 1911 until 1921. She studied medicine and was able to obtain a laurea honoris causa. She financed charitable institutions for people with encephalitis, tubercolosis, former soldiers and poor mothers.
She was deeply involved in her fight against disease, and she promoted many efforts for the training of doctors, and for research against poliomyelitis, Parkinson's disease and cancer.
On 15 April 1937 Pope Pius XII gave her the Golden Rose of Christianity, the most important honour for a Catholic lady at the time. Pope Pius XII, in a condolence telegram sent to her son Umberto II for the queen's death, defined her a "Lady of charitable work".
In 1939, three months after the German invasion of Poland and the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France, Elena wrote a letter to the six European queens still neutral (Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Queen Ioanna of Bulgaria and Queen Maria The Queen Mother of Yugoslavia) in order to avoid the great tragedy the second world war would become.
On 25 July 1943 Victor Emmanuel III had Benito Mussolini arrested. The king left Rome on 9 September to flee to Brindisi with the help of the Allies and Elena followed her husband in his escape. In contrast, on 23 September their daughter Mafalda was arrested by the Nazis and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where she died in 1944.
Following the war, on 9 May 1946 Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in favour of his son Umberto. The former king assumed the title of Count of Pollenzo, and went into exile to Egypt with Elena.
Children
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena had 5 children:
- Princess Yolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria of Savoy (1901–1986), married to Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count of Bergolo, (1887–1977);
- Princess Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana of Savoy (1902–1944), married to Prince Philipp of Hesse (1896–1980) with issue; she died in the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald;
- Prince Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont, later Umberto II, King of Italy (1904–1983) married (and following the abolition of monarchy, separated from) Princess Marie José of Belgium, with issue.
- Princess Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria of Savoy (1907–2000), married to Boris III, King of Bulgaria, and mother of Simeon II, Tsar and later Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
- Princess Maria Francesca Anna Romana of Savoy (1914–2001), who married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899–1967), with issue.
Titles and styles
- 8 January 1873 - 24 October 1896: Her Highness Princess Elena of Montenegro
- 24 October 1896 - 29 July 1900: Her Royal Highness The Princess of Naples
- 29 July 1900 - 9 May 1946: Her Majesty The Queen of Italy
- 9 May 1936 - 5 May 1941: Her Imperial Majesty The Empress of Ethiopia
- 16 April 1939 - 8 September 1943: Her Majesty The Queen of the Albanians
- 9 May 1946 - 28 November 1952 Her Majesty Queen Elena of Italy, Countess of Pollenzo
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
- The Njegoskij Fund Public Project : Private family archives-based digital documentary fund focused on history and culture of Royal Montenegro.
- Crnogorska princeza Jelena
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Elena of Montenegro
Born: 8 January 1873 Died: 28 November 1952 |
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| Italian royalty | ||
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| Preceded by | Queen consort of Italy 29 July 1900 – 9 May 1946 |
Succeeded by Marie-José of Belgium |
| Ethiopian royalty | ||
| Preceded by | Empress consort of Ethiopia (Not internationally recognised) 9 May 1936 – 5 May 1941 |
Succeeded by Menen Asfaw |
| Albanian royalty | ||
| Preceded by | Queen consort of Albania 16 April 1939 – 8 September 1943 |
Title Abolished |
- Articles needing translation from foreign-language Wikipedias
- 1873 births
- 1952 deaths
- Women inventors
- Female nurses in World War I
- Italian queens consort
- Albanian royal consorts
- House of Petrovic-Njegoš
- Princesses of Savoy
- People from Cetinje
- Princesses of Piedmont
- Italian Roman Catholics
- Montenegrin princesses
- Italian people of Montenegrin descent
- Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy
- Empresses and imperial consorts of Ethiopia
- Albanian nobility
- Recipients of the Golden Rose
- Dames of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa
- Dames of the Order of the Starry Cross
