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Margherita of Savoy-Genoa
Margherita of Savoy-Genoa
	Queen of Italy
Tenure	9 January 1878 – 29 July 1900
Spouse	Umberto I of Italy
Issue
	Victor Emmanuel III
Full name
	Italian: Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna
Father	Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa
Mother	Princess Elizabeth of Saxony
Born	20 November 1851; Turin
Died	4 January 1926 (aged 74); Bordighera
Burial	Pantheon, Rome

Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna of Savoy-Genoa (20 November 1851 in Turin – 4 January 1926 in Bordighera), was the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign (1878-1900) of her husband, Umberto I.

[edit] Family

She was a daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa and Elizabeth of Saxony. Her paternal grandparents were Charles Albert of Sardinia and Maria Theresa of Austria and Tuscany. Her maternal grandparents were John of Saxony and Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria.

Maria Theresa was a daughter of Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Princess Luisa Maria Amelia Teresa of the Two Sicilies. Amalie Auguste was a daughter of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Caroline of Baden.

Luisa Maria was a daughter of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Marie Caroline of Austria. Ferdinand was the first ruler of the Two Sicilies.

[edit] Marriage and child

She married her first cousin Humbert (Umberto) on 21 April 1868. On 11 November 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples, afterwards Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. He was their only child.

[edit] Queen consort

On 9 January 1878, Humbert succeeded as the new King of Italy. She became his Queen consort and remained by his side for the rest of his reign. Humbert was assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci on 29 July 1900.

Margherita encouraged artists and writers and founded cultural institutions, notably the Società del Quartetto, and the Casa di Dante. She was a benefactor of many charities, especially the Red Cross.

In 1889, the Margherita pizza, whose red tomatoes, green basil, and white cheese represent the Italian flag, was named after her. Her name means "daisy" in Italian. In 1906, the Queen mother’s nephew Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi made the first ascent of the highest summit of Mount Stanley (the third highest mountain in Africa) and named it Margherita Peak in her honour.^[1]

On 18 August 1893, in the company of various guides, porters, Alpini, politicians and aristocrats, she climbed the Punta Gnifetti (or Signalkuppe), a peak of the Monte Rosa massif on the Swiss-Italian border, for the inauguration of the mountain hut named after her.^[2] At 4,554 metres the Capanna Regina Margherita, remains the highest hut in Europe.

Politically she leant towards Fascism—in October 1922 the quadrumvirs (Emilio De Bono, Italo Balbo, Michele Bianchi and Cesare Maria de Vecchi) visited her at Bordighera to pay their respects prior to the March on Rome^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Ancestry

[edit] Notes

^ Peter Bridges, ‘A Prince of Climbers’, Virginia Quarterly Review, 76-1 (Winter 2000), 38–51.
^ ‘Rifugio Regina Margherita alla Punta Gnifetti’, varasc.it. The official opening ceremony took place a fortnight later on 4 September.

Italian royalty
Margherita of Savoy House of Savoy Born: 20 November 1851 Died: 4 January 1926
Preceded by None	Queen Consort of Italy 9 January 1878 – 29 July 1900	Succeeded by Elena of Montenegro

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[0] Peter Bridges, ‘A Prince of Climbers’, Virginia Quarterly Review, 76-1 (Winter 2000), 38–51.

[1] ‘Rifugio Regina Margherita alla Punta Gnifetti’, varasc.it. The official opening ceremony took place a fortnight later on 4 September.

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Contents

[edit] Family

[edit] Marriage and child

[edit] Queen consort

[edit] Ancestry

[edit] Notes