Countess Ilona Edelsheim-Gyulai de Marosnémethi et Nádaska (14 January 1918 – 18 April 2013)Elhunyt Horthy Istvánné
was a Hungarian noblewoman and wife of

István Horthy Vitéz István Horthy de Nagybánya (9 December 1904 – 20 August 1942) was Hungarian regent Admiral Miklós Horthy's eldest son, a politician, and, during World War II, a fighter pilot. Biography In his youth, István Horthy and his young ...

, son of

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Miklós Horthy and Deputy Regent of Hungary for a short time in 1942.

Biography

She was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, the third daughter of Count Lipót Edelsheim-Gyulai and Gabriella Pejacsevich ( hr, Gabriela Pejačević). She spent her childhood in Felsőelefánt (today: ''Horné Lefantovce, Slovakia''), the family's estate in the former Upper Hungary, though during her early life it was part of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. She married István Horthy in April 1940. Their only son, István Horthy Jr. was born in 1941. Her husband died in an unexplained airplane crash over the Eastern Front in August 1942. In 1954 she married Colonel John Wallace Guy Bowden of the

Queen's Own Hussars The Queen's Own Hussars (QOH), was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed from the amalgamation of the 3rd The King's Own Hussars and the 7th Queen's Own Hussars at Candahar Barracks, Tidworth in 1958. The regiment served in Aden and Nor ...

; during the early 1960s they lived in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, where Bowden was a British military attaché, and in the 1980s they moved to Portugal. Bowden died in 2002. She worked as a nurse for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She also had a role in rescuing

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. After the unsuccessful desertion attempts and Operation Panzerfaust, she emigrated with her father-in-law, the Regent. She wrote her memoir with the title of ''Becsület és kötelesség'' ("Honor and Duty"). She lived in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

until her death at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, aged 95.

References

Horthy Istvánné gróf Edelsheim-Gyulai Ilona a kiralyihagyomanyőrzők honlapján
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110131095144/http://www.historia.hu/archivum/2000/0008sp_keret.htm Az „irigyelt házasság, majd a hontalanság" című cikk a História honlapján. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edelsheim-Gyulai, Ilona 1918 births 2013 deaths Hungarian humanitarians Women humanitarians Nobility from Budapest Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Ilona Ilona Hungarian expatriates in Czechoslovakia