''Donna'' Virginia Bourbon del Monte dei principi di San Faustino (

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 ...

, 24 May 1899 –

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, 30 November 1945) was the wife of

Edoardo Agnelli Edoardo Agnelli (9 June 1954 – 15 November 2000) was the eldest child and only son of Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist patriarch of Fiat and of Marella Agnelli (born Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto). He converted to Islam when he was l ...

and the mother of

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

Biography

She was the daughter of Carlo Bourbon del Monte, Prince di San Faustino (1867–1917), a descendant of an ancient Tuscan-

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

n family. Her mother was the American heiress Jane Allen Campbell (1865–1938). Her brother Ranieri Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria, Prince of San Faustino was the 1st husband of painter

Kay Sage Katherine Linn Sage (June 25, 1898 – January 8, 1963), usually known as Kay Sage, was an American Surrealist artist and poet active between 1936 and 1963. A member of the Golden Age and Post-War periods of Surrealism, she is mostly recognized f ...

. Virginia married Edoardo Agnelli, the son of Senator and

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

co-founder

Giovanni Agnelli Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian businessman, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899. Early life The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near ...

, on 5 June 1919. She became a widow on 14 July 1935, as Edoardo died in a plane crash in the seadrome of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. A few months after the death of her husband, Virginia engaged in an intimate relationship with the journalist and writer

Curzio Malaparte Curzio Malaparte (; 9 June 1898 – 19 July 1957), born Kurt Erich Suckert, was an Italian writer, filmmaker, war correspondent and diplomat. Malaparte is best known outside Italy due to his works ''Kaputt'' (1944) and ''La pelle'' (1949). The f ...

. Their wedding ceremony—originally scheduled for October 1936—didn't take place due to the stubborn opposition of Virginia's father-in-law, Senator Giovanni Agnelli. Moreover, Curzio had become unpopular among the highest authorities of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

's regime. As a consequence, the disgraced reporter had been expelled from the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

(PNF) and forced into exile on the island of

Lipari Lipari (; scn, Lìpari) is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy; it is also the name of the island's main town and ''comune'', which is administratively part of the Metropolit ...

for a certain period of time in 1933. Meanwhile, Virginia had to face a tough confrontation with her father-in-law, who tried to claim parental authority over her seven children by all means after finding out that the two lovers were about to get married. In deliberating on this issue, the Court of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

pronounced a verdict against the mother. The dispute went on with several legal actions, until Virginia decided to move to Rome. Since there were better chances for her of being favoured by the judicial authorities of Rome, her father-in-law finally gave his consent to negotiate a compromise agreement by the end of 1937. Its most important aspect was the granting of child custody to Virginia: this settlement was exactly the one supported by her children themselves. Virginia was arrested in Rome on 8 September 1943, since she was the daughter of a U.S. citizen, a country at that time at war against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and confined in a villa on the Caelian Hill, from which she was then able to escape. After coming back to Rome as a free person, Virginia arranged —in collaboration with Colonel Eugen Dollmann— a meeting in

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

between

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

and General

Karl Wolff Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 17 July 1984) was a German SS functionary who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ended the war as the Supre ...

. The latter was the Military Governor and the Supreme Commander of the SS and of the police in Northern Italy. The meeting was intended to avoid bloodshed during the imminent German retreat from Rome. It was successful, and led to the release from prison of

Giuliano Vassalli Giuliano Vassalli (25 April 1915 – 21 October 2009) was an Italian politician, lecturer and lawyer. Life He was born in Perugia, son of Filippo Vassalli, a famous lecturer and lawyer. During World War II Vassalli was imprisoned by Nazi forces ...

. The jurist and member of the Resistance had been held in detention by the SS in their headquarters in the German Embassy on 145 Via Tasso. Virginia perished in a car accident near Pisa in the late afternoon of 30 November 1945, after the car in which she was traveling - on its way from Rome to

Forte dei Marmi Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013. Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's ...

- was hit head-on by a heavy truck of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. The fatal crash occurred on the Via Aurelia in proximity to the pine forest of San Rossore. She died instantly.M. Ripa di Meana e G. Mecucci, ''Virginia Agnelli'', p. 236

Biography

References

Further reading