Geraldine of Albania
Geraldine (born Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony; 6 August 1915 – 22 October 2002) was Queen of the Albanians from her marriage to King Zog I on 27 April 1938 until King Zog was deposed on 7 April of the following year.
The native form of this personal name is Apponyi Géraldine. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.Geraldine
27 April 1938 – 7 April 1939
Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony
6 August 1915
Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary
22 October 2002 (aged 87)
Tirana, Republic of Albania
26 October 2002
Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi
Gladys Virginia Stewart
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Geraldine was born in Austria-Hungary into the noble Apponyi family. Her family fled to Switzerland in 1918, when the monarchy of Austria-Hungary was abolished. They returned to Hungary in 1921. However, after her father Gyula died in 1924, her American-born mother Gladys took Geraldine and her two siblings to live in Southern France. Later Geraldine was educated at a boarding school in Austria. She met King Zog in 1938, and they married shortly afterwards.
The Italian invasion of Albania cut short Zog's reign. During World War II, Zog and Geraldine lived first in France and later in England. Later on, they would live in France again and in Egypt. After her husband died in Paris in 1961, Geraldine took the title Queen Mother and asserted the rights of her son Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, to rule. She and Leka fled successively to Spain, Rhodesia, and South Africa. Geraldine was allowed to return to Albania in 2002, and she died that year aged 87.
Later life[edit]
After her husband's death, Geraldine preferred to be known as the "Queen Mother of Albania".[3] In June 2002, Geraldine returned from South Africa to live in Albania, after the law was changed to allow her to do so. She continued to assert that her son Leka was the legitimate King of the Albanians.
Queen Geraldine of the Albanians died five months later at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana. After being admitted for treatment for lung disease, she suffered at least three heart attacks, the last of which was fatal, on 22 October 2002.[4] She was buried by the Central House of the Army with full honours, including a funeral oration at St Paul's Cathedral, on 26 October 2002, and interred in the Sharra cemetery, Albania, in the "VIP plot". She was later reburied in the Royal Mausoleum in Tirana.[5]
On 5 April 2004 her grandson, Leka, Crown Prince of Albania, accepted the Mother Teresa Medal awarded to her posthumously by the Albanian government in recognition of her charitable efforts for the people of Albania. Leka's daughter Geraldine (born 22 October 2020 at Queen Geraldine Maternity Hospital in Tirana, on the 18th death anniversary of Queen Geraldine) was named in her honour.
