Marina Ricolfi-Doria (born 12 February 1935) is a Swiss former

water skier Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

. She competed three times at the

Water Ski World Championships The Water Ski World Championships is a bi-annual water ski competition that has taken place since 1949. Held near the end of the competition season, the World Championships are one of the sport's oldest major championships along with the Masters W ...

winning gold medals in 1955 and in 1957. She won the overall title in the European Water Ski Championships consecutively from 1953 to 1956 and won five Swiss national titles. She was inducted into the

International Water Ski Federation The International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) is the world governing body for all towed water sports. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1946, it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the sole authority governing ...

Hall of Fame in 1991. Ricolfi-Doria, styled as the Princess of Naples and Duchess of Savoy, is a member of the former

Italian royal family The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alps, Alpine County of Savoy, county north-west of Ita ...

as the wife of

Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples (''Vittorio Emanuele Alberto Carlo Teodoro Umberto Bonifacio Amedeo Damiano Bernardino Gennaro Maria di Savoia'';''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XIV. "Haus Italien". C. ...

. Her husband is the son of the last king and queen of Italy,

Umberto II en, Albert Nicholas Thomas John Maria of Savoy , house = Savoy , father = Victor Emmanuel III of Italy , mother = Princess Elena of Montenegro , birth_date = , birth_place = Racconigi, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy , d ...

and Marie José. She is the mother of

Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice Emanuele Filiberto Umberto Reza Ciro René Maria di Savoia (born 22 June 1972)''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XIV. "Haus Italien". C.A. Starke Verlag, 1997, pp. 33, 38–39. .Willis, Daniel, ''The Descendants of Louis ...

Career

Ricolfi-Doria was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

on 12 February 1935; her parents were Iris Benvenuti and

René Ricolfi-Doria René Italo Ricolfi-Doria (30 April 1901 – 4 February 1970) was a Swiss freestyle Swimming (sport), swimmer. He competed in the Swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics, two events and the water polo at the 1920 Summer Olympics. References ...

, a Swiss Olympic athlete. In 1955 she became a water-skiing performer at

Cypress Gardens Cypress Gardens was a botanical garden and theme park near Winter Haven, Florida that operated from 1936 to 2009. As of 2011, the botanical garden portion had been preserved inside the newly formed Legoland Florida. History Billed as Florida' ...

, in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the United States. She competed three times in the

; in 1953, in 1955 and in 1957. In 1955 she took the Tricks gold medal, and in 1957 she took gold in both Slalom and Tricks, thus becoming the overall women's world champion. She won the overall title in the European Championships every year from 1953 to 1956, and took five or more overall Swiss national titles. In 1991 Ricolfi-Doria was included in the Hall of Fame of the

, as the "finest female skier from Europe of the first decade of international competition". She continued to compete until 1960.

Marriage

Ricolfi-Doria met Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia in 1960 at the

Société Nautique de Genève The Société Nautique de Genève is a yacht club based in Geneva (Switzerland). It was founded in 1872 with the goal of developing nautical sports and high level sailors. Currently the club has about 3000 members. The club held the America's Cup ...

, where both were water-skiing. They were married in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, in the autumn of 1971; their wedding had been announced during the

2500-year celebration of the Persian Empire The Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire (Persian language, Persian: جشن‌های دو هزار و پانصد ساله شاهنشاهی ایران) was a national event in Pahlavi Iran, Iran that consi ...

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

. They have one son,

.Enache, Nicolas. ''La Descendance de Marie-Therese de Habsburg''. ICC, Paris, 1996. p.204 As the wife of the Head of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

, she is entitled to the ''

Privilège du blanc (, "the privilege of the white", is a term used for a Catholic custom whereby certain designated female royalty and royal consorts are permitted to wear a white dress and veil during audiences with the Pope, an exception to the tradition of most ...

'', the ability to wear white when in an audience with the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. She used the privilege on 18 May 2003 during a

Catholic mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...

marking the birth anniversary of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

References

External links

Official Website of the Royal House of Savoy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doria, Marina Living people 1935 births Italian princesses Hereditary Princesses of Naples Neapolitan princesses Duchesses of Savoy Princesses of Savoy Female water skiers Swiss water skiers Italian water skiers Swiss-Italian people Swiss people of Italian descent Swiss people of French descent Swiss Roman Catholics Citizens of Italy through descent Sportspeople from Geneva Princesses by marriage