Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi

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Countess Geraldine Margit Virginia Olga Maria Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi (6 August 1915—22 October 2002) was the Queen consort of King Zog I, the only reigning monarch of the Zogu dynasty of Albania. For the 354 days between her marriage and the end of her husband's reign she was Queen Geraldine of Albania (in Albanian, Geraldina Zog, Mbretėreshė i Shqiptarėvet)[1]

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[edit] Early life

Geraldine was born in Budapest, Hungary, a daughter of Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi (1873—1924). Her mother was Gladys Virginia Steuart (1891—1947), an American, a daughter of a millionaire from Virginia, daughter of John Henry Steuart, a diplomat who served as American Consul to Antwerp, Belgium.

When the empire of Austria-Hungary collapsed, the family went to Switzerland. In 1921 they returned to Hungary. However, when Geraldine's father died, her mother decided to take their three children (Geraldine, Virginia, and Gyula) with her to the resort of Menton in the south of France. When Countess de Nagy-Apponyi decided to marry a French officer, her Hungarian in-laws insisted that the children be returned to Hungary for their education. They 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 selling postcards at the Budapest National Museum, where one of her uncles was the director.

[edit] Royal life

Geraldine was introduced to King Zog I in December 1937, after his sister had approached Geraldine on behalf of the monarch, who had seen the young Hungarian woman's photograph. 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. She had some distant Albanian roots[citation needed].

On April 27, 1938, in Tirana, Albania, Geraldine married the king in a ceremony witnessed by Count Ciano, Mussolini's envoy and son-in-law. She was Roman Catholic and he was Muslim. They drove to their honeymoon in a open-top scarlet Mercedes Benz, a present from Adolf Hitler. The couple had one child, Leka Zogu (1939—).

Zog's rule was cut short with the invasion of Albania by fascist Italy in April 1939, and the family fled the country into exile. From 1946, Geraldine and Zog lived in Greece, Turkey, England, Egypt, United States, France, Rhodesia, Spain, and finally South Africa. King Zog died in Hauts-de-Seine, France in 1961.

[edit] Later life

In June of 2002, Geraldine returned to Albania from South Africa to live in Tirana, after the law was changed to allow her to do so, and she continued to assert that her son Leka was the legitimate king of the Albanians. From 1961, when her son was proclaimed king of the Albanians by the royalist government in exile, she preferred to be known as the Queen Mother of Albania [2].

Queen Geraldine died at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana. After having been admitted for treatment for lung disease, she suffered at least three heart attacks, the last of which was fatal, on October 22, 2002[1]. She was buried by the Central House of the Army and 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, at "The Plot of VIPs".

Her grandson, Prince Leka of Albania posthumously accepted a medal from the Albanian government on behalf of her charitable efforts on behalf of the people of Albania.

[edit] Titles

  • Grafin (Countess) Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi (1915-1938)
  • Her Royal Highness Princess Geraldine of Albania (Geraldina, Princësh i Shqiptarë) (10 January—27 April 1938)[3]
  • 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)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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