Princess Adelina de Colonna, Duchess of Rignano (born Adelina Munro Drysdale; 19 September 1896 – 14 December 1942) was a

Scottish Argentine Scottish Argentines are Argentine citizens of Scottish descent or Scottish-born people who reside in Argentina. A Scottish Argentine population has existed since at least 1825. Frequently, Scottish Argentines are wrongly referred to as English. ...

socialite. In her honour, her grandfather Duncan MacKay Munro named the Villa Adelina train station of

Córdoba Central Railway The Córdoba Central Railway (CCR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Córdoba) was a British-owned railway company, founded in 1887, that operated a railway network in Argentina which extended from Buenos Aires, north west via Rosario and C ...

(current

General Belgrano Railway The General Manuel Belgrano Railway (FCGMB) (Spanish: Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano), named after the Argentine politician and military leader Manuel Belgrano, is a railway and the longest of the Argentine system. It was one of the six S ...

) after her. The town then built around the station in

Vicente López Partido Vicente López is a partido in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is one of the country´s most affluent municipalities. Vicente López is located 20 kilometers north of downtown Buenos Aires and 80 kilome ...

also took the name "

Villa Adelina Villa Adelina is a city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is divided between the counties ('' partidos'') of San Isidro and Vicente López and forms part of the urban conurbation of Greater Buenos Aires. The town is named after Adelina M ...

Early life and family

Drysdale was born on 19 September 1896 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

to Thomas James Drysdale and Elisabeth Mary Munro, a descendant of the

Clan Munro Clan Munro (; gd, Clann an Rothaich ) is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically the clan was based in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional origins of the clan give its founder as Donald Munro who came from the north of Ireland and ...

. Her father, born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, moved to Argentina after completing his education. Her paternal grandfather, Joseph Drysdale, was a prominent businessman who emigrated from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to Argentina. Her maternal grandfather, Duncan Mackay Munro, was a Scottish industrialist who managed the Córdoba and Rosario Railway,

, Argentine Northwest Railway and later served as the British Vice-Consul of Córdoba. Her grandfather had the town of

named after her. After her father died of

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

in 1897, her mother remarried Count Francesco Bottaro Costa, an Italian nobleman and diplomat, in 1903. The family later moved to Europe due to Drysdale's stepfather's diplomatic appointments, settling in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. When Drysdale was eighteen years old she was presented at court to Queen Elena of Italy. On 10 September 1917 Drysdale married Prince Mario de Colonna, Duke of Rignano in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

.''Adelina... la Princesa'', book by Francisco Diurno – published in 1991 Her husband was the son of Prospero Colonna, Duke of Rignano, Prince of Sonnino, who served as the mayor of Rome. She and Prince Mario had five children: *María Vittoria, born in Rome on 2 August 1918, wife of Francesco Mario Theodoli , of the family of San Vito. *Oddone, born in Rome on 22 October 1919, Duke of Rignano (1938). Married to María Luisa Bergozzi in 1944. *Fabio, born in Rome on 11 March 1921, married to Elisabetta Galletti in 1946. *Stefano, born in Rome on 7 September 1924. Married to Diana Hierschel de Minerbi in 1967. *Livia, born in Rome on 7 August 1932, wife of Paolo Cenci-Bolognetti , prince of Vicovaro . Her husband died in an airplane crash in 1938. Drysdale died in Rome on 14 December 1942 after suffering from an illness. Drysdale's biography, titled ''Adelina ... La Princesa'', was written by Francisco Diurno in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drysdale, Adelina Munro 1896 births 1942 deaths Argentine people of English descent Argentine people of Scottish descent Argentine socialites Argentine nobility Colonna family Italian duchesses Italian princesses People from Buenos Aires Princesses by marriage Argentine emigrants to Italy