Princess Giovanna of Italy/ Tsaritsa Ioanna of Bulgaria

Queen Ioanna (Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria), Bulgarian royal (b. Nov. 13, 1907, Rome, Italy—d. Feb. 26, 2000, Estoril, Port.), as the daughter of the last king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III; the wife of King Boris III of Bulgaria; and the mother of Bulgaria's last king, Simeon II, was at the centre of regional politics during the 1930s and '40s. Although her marriage to King Boris was attended by several Fascist government ministers, including Benito Mussolini, Ioanna opposed Bulgaria's official support of Nazi Germany and reportedly helped many Bulgarian Jews escape to safety. She fled into exile with her two children in 1946, three years after the death of her husband, who was rumoured to have been poisoned during a visit to Germany.

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• giovanna
• ioanna
• bulgaria
• italy
• savoy
• savoia
• saxe
• coburg
• gotha
• kohary

[johneunson]

elegant lady. this time a happy marriage until her husbands premature death. thank you for this. i had never heard of this lady, nor the bulgarian royal family. it is strange how many lives hitler's evil touched.