Principessa
Giovanna Elisabetta of Italy
(1907–2000)
Other names: Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria
Biographical
Dame of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus [Italy]
Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross [Austria]
Dame of the Order of Theresa [Bavaria]
Grand Cross of the Order of St Alexander [Bulgaria]
As with the other royal Italian princesses, Giovanna had a traditional,
but happy upbringing. She had a solid education and, as with her sibling,
represented her family through public appearances at the opening of hospitals
and schools. At the age of eighteen, she met Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria,
and they married in the presence of Mussolini two years later after Boris
proposed. Giovanna had converted to Eastern Orthodoxy to which the Vatican
voiced its opposition. Giovanna was well-received by the Bulgarian people,
and the marriage was happy, with the couple travelling abroad regularly.
By 1933, Germany was becoming increasingly influential in Bulgaria. It
had become dependent on the Germans with trade, and pro-German right-wing
groups in Bulgaria had become increasingly powerful. In 1941, the Tsar
officially joined the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact, and
its declaration of war on the Allies that year, and subsequent involvement
in the conflict, was a disaster for the country. After the Tsar had very
reluctantly approved anti-Semitic laws due to pressure from Germany, Giovanna
engaged in efforts to assist Jews escape Bulgaria, via Italy, to Argentina.
The Tsar and Tasarina's stance towards anti-Semitism became known to the
Nazis, who were disturbed. Further suspicions were aroused when the Tsar
stalled on allowing deportation of Jews from Bulgaria, and he was now
viewed as unreliable. In March 1943 the Tsar was invited by Hitler for
a visit. Despite their meeting, the Tsar continued to resist implementing
the deportations, and after he refused to declare war on Russia and send
troops, he was summoned by Hitler to his Rastenburg headquarters. The
Tsar asserted his stance, and refused to involve Bulgaria in the war any
further than it had. Two weeks after the Tsar's return from the meeting,
he was dead. There were rumours that the Tsar had been poisoned, and,
according to Goebbels, Hitler believed he had been, blaming the Italians,
and that Giovanna's sister, Mafalda, was capable of administering the
poison. The Tsar's official cause of death was recorded as coronary thrombosis,
but Giovanna believed that he had been murdered, although there was no
evidence of this. After Giovanna's son, Simeon, succeeded to the throne,
the royal family lived at their residence at Vrana, and the new regime
allowed the monarchy to remain for another two years. A plebiscite was
then held in 1946, and the monarchy abolished. The royal family left for
Egypt, and then to Spain. Giovanna later resided in Portugal. She visited
Bulgaria only once after her exile to attend the anniversary of her husband's
death in 1993, and she was received with much affection by the Bulgarian
people.
Place of birth: Rome
Place of marriage: Assisi
Place of death: Estoril, Portugal
Place of burial: Assisi
Daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, and Princess Elena of
Montenegro (Petrovic-Njegos). She married King Boris III of Bulgaria (Saxe-Coburg)
in 1930, and had issue.
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