by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2016
Giovanna of Italy, Tsaritsa of Bulgaria; Credit – Wikipedia
Giovanna of Italy was the wife of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria. She was born Princess Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria of Italy on November 13, 1907, in Rome, Italy the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro.
Giovanna had four siblings:
- Princess Yolanda (1901 – 1986) – married Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count of Bergolo, had issue
- Princess Mafalda (1902 – 1944) – married Prince Philipp of Hesse, had issue
- King Umberto II of Italy (1904 – 1983) – married Princess Marie José of Belgium, had issue
- Princess Maria Francesca (1914 – 2001) – married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma, had issue
Princess Giovanna, c.1909. source: Wikipedia
As was typical at the time, Giovanna was educated privately at home. In 1923, she and her sister Mafalda fell ill with typhoid fever and were both very ill. After being nursed back to health by two Franciscan nuns, Giovanna pledged her devotion to St. Francis of Assisi which would remain with her for the rest of her life.
Wedding of Giovanna and Boris, 1930. source: Wikipedia
In 1927, Giovanna met her future husband, Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, and the two quickly fell in love. They married on October 25, 1930, in Assisi, Italy. After the civil ceremony, a Catholic ceremony took place at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy, followed by a large reception at Villa Fidelia in nearby Spello. Later, an Orthodox ceremony was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Giovanna was also crowned Tsaritsa of Bulgaria. Upon her marriage, she took the Bulgarian version of her name, Ioanna. The couple had two children:
- Princess Maria Luisa (born 1933) – married (1) Prince Karl of Leiningen, had issue; (2) Bronislaw Chrobok, has issue
- Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria (born 1937) – married Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela, had issue
In her role as Tsaritsa, Ioanna became well-loved by the Bulgarian people, in part because of her charitable work, including the establishment of a children’s hospital in Sofia. During World War II, she also helped to arrange travel visas, enabling many Jews to escape the country. In August 1943, her husband died, and their young son Simeon became Tsar, under a Regency Council led by Boris’s brother Prince Kyril of Bulgaria.
Tsaritsa Ioanna, c.1932. source: Wikipedia
Following the Soviet invasion of Bulgaria in September 1944, Ioanna and her family were placed under house arrest at Vrana Palace. Two years later, the Soviet regime held a referendum which resulted in the abolition of the monarchy, and on September 16, 1946, the family was forced to flee the country. They went first to Egypt, where Ioanna’s father was living in exile, and then in 1951, settled in Madrid. After her son’s marriage in 1962, she moved to Estoril, Portugal, where she remained for the rest of her life. In 1993, following the fall of the communist regime, Ioanna made a memorable visit to Bulgaria, on the 50th anniversary of her husband’s death.
Tsaritsa Ioanna died in Estoril, Portugal on February 26, 2000. In accordance with her wishes to be buried in Italy, she was buried at the Chapel of the Friars at the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy.
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Bulgaria Resources at Unofficial Royalty