Milica "Mila" Mulroney (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, t ...

: Милица "Мила" Пивнички; née Pivnički; born July 13, 1953) is the wife of the 18th

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

, Brian Mulroney. She was notable for taking on a greater role during her husband's tenure than previous spouses of Canadian prime ministers, for her work for children's charities, and for criticism of her lavish spending habits.

Early life

Mulroney was born Milica Pivnički to Serbian

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

parents Dimitrije "Mita" Pivnički and Bogdanka (née Ilić) in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

, PR Bosnia-Herzegovina,

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. Her first years were spent in the city of Sarajevo where her father practised medicine. In 1956, Dr. Pivnički took a research fellowship position at the Royal Victoria Hospital's Allan Memorial Institute of Psychiatry in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. While his pregnant wife Bogdanka waited to join him, she moved with young Milica back to their hometown of

Novi Bečej Novi Bečej (, hu, Törökbecse) is a town and municipality located in the Central Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 13,133, while Novi Bečej municipality has 23,925 inhabitants. Nam ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. Finally, two years later, in 1958, she and their two children (five-year-old Milica and one-year-old Jovan) emigrated to Canada and joined Dimitrije in Montreal. Mila, the elder child, studied

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

at Concordia University, but did not graduate. At age 19, she married Brian Mulroney, then a 34-year-old lawyer, on May 26, 1973. Both were involved with the Progressive Conservatives (PC) in Westmount. They have one daughter, Caroline, and three sons,

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...

, Mark, and Nicolas. Their youngest child, Nicolas, was born while the family was living in 24 Sussex Drive.

During Brian Mulroney tenure

Mila was a radical change from the wives of recent prime ministers — the feminist Maureen McTeer and the "wild child"

Margaret Trudeau Margaret Joan Trudeau ( Sinclair, formerly Kemper; born September 10, 1948) is a Canadian activist. She married Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, in 1971; three years after he became prime minister. They divorced in 1984, d ...

. Being a housewife, she greatly appealed to that demographic, especially in her responses to criticism from prominent feminists (including, in 1987, remarks from

Sheila Copps Sheila Maureen Copps (born November 27, 1952) is a former Canadian politician who also served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Canada from November 4, 1993, to April 30, 1996, and June 19, 1996, to June 11, 1997. Her father, Victor Copps, ...

). Many PC campaign buttons featured both Mulroney's face and hers, and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Premier

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

commented to Brian, "Mila will get you more votes for you than you will for yourself."Mila: Mulroney's Not-so-secret Weapon
''

The Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', September 4, 1984 She assumed a greater role than many Prime Ministers' wives while Mulroney was in office, campaigning for several children's charities. Her role, which some claimed was trying to become a " First Lady," was criticized (especially when she hired a personal office and staff and for her lavish redecoration of the Prime Minister's residence). Her frequent shopping sprees became tabloid fodder, with some in the press dubbing her " Imelda" for her love of shoes (she had over 100 pairs). In her book ''On the Take'', Stevie Cameron accused Mila of trying to sell her old furniture to the government for much more than its value.

After Brian Mulroney tenure

Mila Mulroney is former celebrity patron of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and of

Astral Astral may refer to: Concepts of the non-physical * Astral body, a subtle body posited by many religious philosophers * Astral journey (or ''astral trip''), the same as having an ''out-of-body experience'' * Astral plane (AKA astral world), a ...

.Mila Mulroney's page at Astral Media's website
/ref> In 2019, she was knighted in Serbia by

Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyr, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as first deputy prime minister of Serbia and minister of foreign affairs since 2022, roles which he previously served under governments of Mirk ...

( Knight of the St. Sava Order of Diplomatic Pacifism).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulroney, Mila 1953 births Living people Brian Mulroney Concordia University alumni Canadian people of Serbian descent Canadian people of Bosnia and Herzegovina descent Mulroney family Naturalized citizens of Canada People from Montreal Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Spouses of prime ministers of Canada Yugoslav emigrants to Canada Knights of the St. Sava Order of Diplomatic Pacifism

Early life

During Brian Mulroney tenure

After Brian Mulroney tenure

See also

References