Helen of Montenegro (born
Princess Jelena Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro) (8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) was the daughter of
King Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš of MontenegroNikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning Onamo, 'namo, a popular song from Montenegro.-Life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the reigning...
and his wife,
Milena VukotićMilena Vukotic is a former ballerina and a stage, television, and film actress.-Life:Vukotic was born in Rome, to a Montenegrin comediographer father and an Italian pianist/composer mother.-Career:...
. As the result of Jelena's marriage to
King Victor Emmanuel III of ItalyVittorio Emanuele III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania which were recognised by the great powers in 1937 and 1939...
on 24 October 1896 converting to
CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
, she became Queen of Italy when her husband acceded to the throne in 1900.
Due to the Fascist conquest of
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
in 1936 and
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
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 MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE 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. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
,
Prime Minister of Italy for the creation of the independent
Kingdom of MontenegroMontenegro existed from 1941 to 1943 as a puppet protectorate of Fascist Italy, a component of the envisioned Italian Empire. The Italian Fascist regime saw Montenegro as a future part of a Greater Italy that would span the Adriatic coast to northern Greece, where local populations would be...
in 1941.
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Helen of Montenegro (born
Princess Jelena Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro) (8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) was the daughter of
King Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš of MontenegroNikola I Mirkov Petrović-Njegoš was the only king of Montenegro, reigning as king from 1910 to 1918 and as prince from 1860 to 1910. He was also a poet, notably penning Onamo, 'namo, a popular song from Montenegro.-Life:Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the ancient home of the reigning...
and his wife,
Milena VukotićMilena Vukotic is a former ballerina and a stage, television, and film actress.-Life:Vukotic was born in Rome, to a Montenegrin comediographer father and an Italian pianist/composer mother.-Career:...
. As the result of Jelena's marriage to
King Victor Emmanuel III of ItalyVittorio Emanuele III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania which were recognised by the great powers in 1937 and 1939...
on 24 October 1896 converting to
CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
, she became Queen of Italy when her husband acceded to the throne in 1900.
Due to the Fascist conquest of
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
in 1936 and
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
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 MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE 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. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
,
Prime Minister of Italy for the creation of the independent
Kingdom of MontenegroMontenegro existed from 1941 to 1943 as a puppet protectorate of Fascist Italy, a component of the envisioned Italian Empire. The Italian Fascist regime saw Montenegro as a future part of a Greater Italy that would span the Adriatic coast to northern Greece, where local populations would be...
in 1941. In 1943 she subsequently obtained the release from a German prison of her nephew,
Prince Michael of MontenegroPrince Michael Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro was the third son of Prince Mirko Petrović-Njegoš, Grand Voivode of Grahovo and Zeta , and Natalija Konstantinović, a cousin of Aleksandar Obrenović of Serbia...
and his wife, Geneviève. Prince Michael had been imprisoned after refusing to become the king of the Kingdom under the protection of Italy.
Children
King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena had 5 children:
- Yolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria
Princess Yolanda Margherita Milena Elisabetta Romana Maria of Savoy was the eldest daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and his wife Princess Elena of Montenegro, and the sister of the last king of Italy Umberto II....
(1901-1986), married to Giorgio Carlo Calvi, Count of Bergolo, (1887–1977);
- Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana (1902–44), married to Prince Philipp of Hesse (1896–1980) with issue; she died in the Nazi
Nazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
concentration camp at Buchenwald;
- Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria
Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II, the last King of Italy, nicknamed the King of May , was born the Prince of Piedmont. He was the third child, and the only son, of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro...
, later Umberto II, King of Italy (1904–1983) married (and following the abolition of monarchy, separated from) Princess Marie José of Belgium, with issue.
- Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria
Giovanna of Italy was the last Tsaritsa of Bulgaria.-Childhood:Giovanna was born in Rome, the third daughter and fourth child of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena, former Princess of Montenegro...
(1907–2000), married to Boris IIIBoris III the Unifier, Tsar of Bulgaria , originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver , son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following the defeat of the Kingdom of Bulgaria during World War I...
, King of BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
, and mother of Simeon II, King and later Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
- Maria Francesca Anna Romana
Maria Francesca di Savoia complete name Maria Francesca Anna Romana, is the daughter of the King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele III and of Queen Elena....
(1914–2001), who married Prince Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899–1967), with issue.
External links
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