Princess Virginia Maria Clara von und zu Fürstenberg (''Virginia Maria Clara Prinzessin von und zu Fürstenberg''; 5 October 1974 – 10 May 2023) was an Italian artist, poet, filmmaker, and fashion designer.

Early life and family

Princess Virginia von Fürstenberg was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy on 5 October 1974 to Prince Sebastian zu Fürstenberg (b. 1950) and his wife, Elisabetta Guarnati (b. 1951). She was a member of an ancient Swabian House of Fürstenberg. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg and Clara Agnelli. She was a niece of actress

Princess Ira von Fürstenberg Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

and fashion designer Prince Egon von Fürstenberg, the ex-husband of

Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin; 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg ...

. Von Fürstenberg was a first cousin of Prince Alexandre von Fürstenberg,

Tatiana von Fürstenberg Princess Tatiana Desirée von Fürstenberg (''Tatiana Desirée Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg''; born February 16, 1971) is an American art curator, singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and filmmaker. Early life and family Von Fürstenberg ...

, Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, and the late Prince Christoph of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Career

Von Fürstenberg was a fashion designer and creator of the fashion label ''Virginia Von Zu Furstenberg''. She made her fashion debut in March 2011 at the Teatro Filodrammatici in Milan. In September 2011, von Fürstenberg debuted a theatrical work titled ''DISMORPHOPHOBIA'' that combined spoken word, fashion, film, movement, and dance. She debuted her second collection at Milano Moda Donna in Milan on 23 September 2011. She also wrote poetry, and at times combined her poetry and fashion design in some of her work. In 2012, she collaborated with Tommaso Trak to shoot a film focusing on the life of her great-grandmother,

Virginia Bourbon del Monte '' Donna'' Virginia Bourbon del Monte dei principi di San Faustino (24 May 1899 – 30 November 1945) was the wife of Edoardo Agnelli and the mother of Gianni Agnelli. Biography Born in Rome, she was the daughter of Carlo Bourbon del Monte, ...

. In 2017, von Fürstenberg created an art installation dedicated to her mother titled ''There was a nice home'', which was displayed at the Grossetti Arte Gallery in Venice.

Personal life and death

Von Fürstenberg married Baron Alexandre Csillaghy de Pacsér, a Hungarian nobleman, in 1992. Their son, Baron Miklós Tassilo Csillaghy, is an equestrian. Their daughter, Baroness Ginevra Csillaghy, has modeled for the Virginia Von Zu Furstenberg fashion line. She and Csillaghy de Pacsér divorced in 2003. In 2002, a year before her divorce was finalized, she gave birth to a daughter, Clara Bacco Dondi dall'Orologio, from her relationship with Giovanni Bacco Dondi dall'Orologio. In 2004, she married Paco Polenghi with whom she had two children, Otto Leone Maria Polenghi and Santiago Polenghi. Virginia and Polenghi later divorced. On 28 October 2017, she married Janusz Gawronski, Rawicz coat of arms, grandson of Jas Gawronski and a descendant of an ancient Polish noble family. In 2020, the couple divorced. Von Fürstenberg went missing in October 2022 and again in February 2023, both times missing person reports were filed with Italian police. She died on 10 May 2023, aged 48, after a falling from an upper-floor balcony at the Palace Hotel in

Merano Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its Spa town, spa resorts, it is located within a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to Height above mean sea ...

.Virginia von Fürstenberg, chi era la nipote di Gianni Agnelli morta a Merano
Accessed 20 November 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenberg, Virginia von 1974 births 2023 deaths

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Austrian baronesses Agnelli family Italian people of German descent Italian socialites Italian fashion designers Italian women fashion designers Italian filmmakers Italian women artists Italian women poets Nobility from Genoa Italian contemporary artists Artists from Genoa Businesspeople from Genoa deaths from falls