View source for Margherita of Savoy

{{short description|Queen of Italy from 1878 to 1900}}
{{other uses|Margaret of Savoy (disambiguation){{!}}Margaret of Savoy}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort      = yes
| name         = Margherita of Savoy
| full name    = Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna di Savoia
| succession   = [[Queen consort of Italy]]
| reign        = 9 January 1878 – 29 July 1900
| image        = Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy.jpg
| image_size   =
| caption      = Margherita in the 1870s
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Umberto I of Italy]]|1868|1900|end=died}}
| issue        = [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]]
| house        = [[House of Savoy|Savoy-Genoa]]
| father       = [[Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855)|Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, Duke of Genoa]]
| mother       = [[Princess Elisabeth of Saxony]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1851|11|20|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Palazzo Chiablese]], [[Turin]], [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1926|1|4|1851|11|20|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Bordighera]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]
| burial_place = [[Pantheon, Rome]]
| module       = [[File:CoA Margherita di Savoia.png|150px]]<br>Coat of arms of Margherita of Savoy,<br>Queen of Italy
| signature    = Unterschrift Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna di Savoia (1851–1926).png
}}

'''Margherita of Savoy''' (''Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna''; 20 November 1851 – 4 January 1926) was [[List of Italian royal consorts|Queen of Italy]] by marriage to her first cousin King [[Umberto I of Italy]]. She was the daughter of [[Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855)|Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, Duke of Genoa]] and [[Princess Elisabeth of Saxony]], and the mother of the King [[Victor Emmanuel III]] of Italy.

==Life==

===Early life===
[[File:Margherita di Savoia (1851-1926).jpg|thumb|Queen Margherita in her youth]]
Margherita was born to [[Prince Ferdinando, Duke of Genoa (1822–1855)|Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, Duke of Genoa]], and [[Princess Elisabeth of Saxony]]. Her father died in 1855, and her mother remarried [[Morganatic marriage|morganatically]] to Major Nicholas Bernoud, Marchese di Rapallo. She was educated by Countess Clelia Monticelli di Casalrosso and her Austrian governess Rosa Arbesser. Reportedly, she was given a more advanced education than most princesses at the time, and displayed a great deal of intellectual curiosity.<ref name="Adorni 2008">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Adorni|first=Daniela|year=2008|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/margherita-di-savoia-regina-d-italia_(Dizionario-Biografico)/|title=Margerita di Savoia, regina d'Italia|encyclopedia=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani|language=it|location=Rome|publisher=Institute of the Italian Encyclopaedia Treccani|volume=70}}</ref> As a person, she was described as sensitive, proud and with a strong force of will without being hard, as well as having the ability to be charming when she chose to.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> As to her appearance, she was described as a tall, stately blonde, but she was not regarded as a beauty.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> Initially, she was suggested to marry [[Carol I of Romania|Prince Charles of Romania]].<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> In 1867, the royal council president [[Luigi Federico Menabrea]] pressed the king to arrange a marriage between Margherita and her cousin, the heir to the Italian throne.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

===Crown princess (1868–1878)===
[[File:Margherita of Savoy - Queen of Italy.jpg|alt=The Queen Margherita by Michele Gordigiani (1872)|thumb|Queen Margherita in 1872]]
Margherita signed the wedding contract with her first cousin, Umberto, Prince of Piedmont, on 21 April 1868 in the ballroom of the royal palace in Turin, followed the next day by one civilian and one religious wedding ceremony. After the wedding, the crown prince couple settled in Naples. On 11 November 1869, Margherita gave birth to Victor Emmanuel, Prince of [[Naples]], later [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]], in Capodimonte in Naples. The relationship between Margherita and Umberto was not a success in regards to personal feelings; before their wedding, Umberto was already involved in an affair with his long-term lover, [[Eugenia Attendolo Bolognini]],<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> and two years after their wedding, the couple reportedly discontinued their marital relations.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> Their son was therefore to remain their only child; however, they never made their personal separation known to the public, and their relationship was in other aspects quite amiable: Margherita and Umberto worked together harmoniously as colleagues, Umberto even relying on her politically.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

Margherita was raised with the idea of paternalistic [[monarchy]] and the ideal of enlightened [[despotism]].<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> Because of the lack of a queen, Margherita became the first lady of Italy immediately following her marriage, and she was given many representational duties intended to make the new royal house of united Italy popular throughout the peninsula. She became a great asset in this role, with her ability to say and do the right things to effectively arouse public enthusiasm and feeling in her public appearances.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> During her representational tours through Italy, made to arouse popularity for the royal house and thereby the united nation of Italy, she was careful to wear local folk costumes and demonstrate enthusiasm for local customs, traditions and culture, a method which made her so popular that she eclipsed the popularity of her husband.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

In January 1871, after the final unification of Italy and the proclamation of [[Rome]] as the capital of Italy, the crown prince and crown princess settled in Rome. There, Margherita successfully continued her task by making her receptions at the royal court the center of Roman high society in her effort to subdue the opposition toward unification within the Roman aristocracy. She eventually succeeded in making her [[Salon (gathering)|salon]] one of the most exclusive and famous in contemporary Europe.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

=== Queen (1878–1900) ===
[[File:Ritratto di S.M. Margherita di Savoia.png|alt=Portrait of Queen Margherita by Pasquale Di Criscito (1878)|thumb|left|397x397px|Portrait of Queen Margherita by Pasquale Di Criscito (1878)]]
[[File:Inkstand of Queen Margherita of Italy - Calamaio della Regina Margherita d'Italia - encrier de la reine Margherita d'Italie.png|thumb|120x120px|Inkstand of Queen Margherita with her double coat of arms]]
Margherita became Queen of Italy upon the succession of Umberto to the throne on 9 January 1878. In the critical situation that year, with the king and the pope, as well as an assassination attempt against the new king, Umberto reportedly asked Margherita for political advice.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> The attempted assassination of the king by [[Giovanni Passannante]] in November 1878 reportedly made her work even more forcefully to strengthen the prestige of the crown and build loyalty to the institution by gathering followers and making connections.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> As when she was a crown princess, she was actively assisted in this networking and image building by her favorite courtiers, marchioness [[Paola Pes di Villamarina]] and marquis Emanuele Pes di Villamarina, who were appointed her ''dama d’onore'' (senior lady in waiting) and ''cavaliere d’onore'' (senior lord in waiting), respectively.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

As queen, Margherita worked to protect the monarchy against republicans and socialists, and she gathered a circle of conservative intellectuals and artists known as the ''Circolo della regina'' (Circle of the Queen) in her famous literary salon known as ''giovedì della regina'' (Queen's Thursdays), where she benefited artists and writers.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> Among her circle of artists were the notoriously democratic and republican poet [[Giosuè Carducci]], who famously wrote an ode to her when she became queen, and [[Marco Minghetti]], who functioned somewhat as her guide in cultural circles, as well as her confidant.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> She founded cultural institutions, notably the [[Società del Quartetto]] (Quartet Society) and the [[Casa di Dante]] (House of Dante). Queen Margherita also fostered loyalty toward the monarchy by social and charitable work.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> She frequently visited and acted as the benefactor of hospitals, schools and institutions for children and the blind, founding the first library for the blind in Florence (1892).<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> Her work was effective and already during the 1880s, she had become the centre of a personal cult as a popular symbol of the Italian monarchy and celebrated by poets and authors, as well as by the press, as a symbol of moral reform.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

[[File:Margheritaqueen.jpg|thumb|270px|Portrait of Queen Margherita by Michele Gordigiani (1884)]]

King Umberto by contrast had love affairs with the ''contessa fatale'' (Vincenza Publicola-Santacroce, contessa di Santa Fiora), besides duchess Litta, whom he reportedly also asked for political advice, which exposed the court to scandal;<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> however, the queen was close to her son and strengthened her relations to him even further after his wedding. Queen Margherita was also involved in state affairs: viewing democracy as a potential threat to the monarchy, she supported [[Francesco Crispi]] against parliament.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> As a nationalist, she did not hesitate to support the [[First Italo-Ethiopian War]] in 1896, in contrast to Umberto, who was hesitant.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> As a central figure of the conservative forces, she supported the repressive actions toward the rioters in Milan in 1898, which lead to the [[Bava Beccaris massacre]].<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

On 18 August 1893, in the company of various guides, porters, [[Alpini]], politicians and aristocrats, Margherita climbed the Punta Gnifetti (or [[Signalkuppe]]), a peak of the [[Monte Rosa]] massif on the [[Italy–Switzerland border|Swiss–Italian border]], for the inauguration of the [[mountain hut]] named after her.<ref>[http://www.varasc.it/rifugio_regina_margherita_alla_p.htm ‘Rifugio Regina Margherita alla Punta Gnifetti’], varasc.it. The official opening ceremony took place a fortnight later on 4 September.</ref> At 4,554 metres, the "Capanna Regina Margherita" ([[Margherita Hut]]) remains the highest hut in [[Europe]]. Margherita later accepted the position of Honorary President of the [[Ladies' Alpine Club]].<ref>David Doughan, Peter Gordon, ''Women, Clubs and Associations in Britain'' (2007), p. 111</ref>

=== Queen mother (1900–1926) ===
Umberto I, who had already survived in the past two attempted murders by the anarchists [[Giovanni Passannante]] and [[Pietro Acciarito]], was killed on 29 July 1900 by another anarchist, [[Gaetano Bresci]]. As the widow of a murdered monarch, Margherita found an enormous amount of sympathy, which created a veritable myth around her as the mourning widow.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> She was aware of this mythology and acted accordingly in this part to benefit the prestige of the monarchy.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

As queen dowager, Margherita took a step back and allowed her daughter-in-law to take precedence, as this was a part of the monarchical system which was her ideal;<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> however, this did not mean that she retired from public life, and she remained a dominant public figure, performing what she regarded as her dynastic duties by making official visits to hospitals and churches until her death. She disliked the tolerance of democracy displayed by her son, the king, which she viewed as a form of socialist monarchy, and worked to ensure the monarchic traditions as much as she could against democratic tendencies.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> Her son did not wish to allow her any influence in state affairs, but she remained involved in politics through her connections and remained a political figure.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> In contrast to most nationalists, Margherita opposed [[World War I]]. During the war, she made one of her residences into a hospital and engaged actively within the [[Red Cross]].<ref name="Adorni 2008"/>

After the end of World War I, Margherita feared a socialist revolution and the end of the monarchy. This, combined with her nationalism and social conservatism,<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> led her to support [[Italian fascism]] under [[Benito Mussolini]], for which she felt a personal regard,<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> although she never explicitly expressed her support.<ref name="Adorni 2008"/> In October 1922, the [[quadrumvirs]] ([[Emilio De Bono]], [[Italo Balbo]], [[Michele Bianchi]], and [[Cesare Maria De Vecchi]]) visited her at [[Bordighera]] to pay their respects prior to the [[March on Rome]].{{citation needed|date=December 2007}} Dowager Queen Margherita died in her villa in [[Bordighera]] on 4 January 1926, aged 74, after having a long attack of [[pleurisy]].<ref name="La Stampa 1926">{{cite news|title=N/A|work=La Stampa|language=it|date=11 January 1926|page=1}}</ref> On 10 January 1926, her body was taken to [[Rome]], where she was buried the following day in the royal tombs of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], where she still lays. The funeral convoy stopped briefly at each station to allow people to say a final farewell. Her body passed through [[Pisa]] at night, and the band of railway workers of the city went to play as a sign of respect. An emotional crowd hindered and slowed down the progress of the train with her body in order to be able to approach and throw flowers.<ref name="La Stampa 1926"/>

==Legacy==
In 1879, the town of [[Margherita di Savoia, Apulia|Margherita di Savoia]], in [[Apulia]], near [[Barletta]], was named after her. In 1881, the mining town of [[Margherita, Assam|Margherita]] in [[Assam]], India, was named after her. Also in 1881, a large glass window was made of her by Studio Moretti Caselli in Perugia, which was then shown around Italy and Europe before returning.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italianways.com/studio-moretti-caselli-in-perugia-a-marriage-of-color-and-light/|title=Studio Moretti Caselli in Perugia: a marriage of color and light - Italian Ways|date=12 November 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.studiomoretticaselli.it/storia/?lang=en|title=Master glasspaintersMastri vetraiMaîtres verriers}}</ref> The [[Pizza Margherita]], whose red tomatoes, green basil, and white mozzarella cheese represent the Italian flag, was named after her in 1889.<ref>{{cite web|title=Classic dishes named after people| date=16 January 2013 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/9805593/Classic-dishes-named-after-people.html?frame=2453063|publisher=Daily Telegraph}}</ref> A [[Italian battleship Regina Margherita|pre-dreadnought battleship]] was named in her honour. It was laid down in 1898 and launched in 1901. In 1906, Margherita's nephew, [[Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi]], made the first ascent of the highest summit of [[Mount Stanley]] (the third-highest mountain in Africa) and named it Margherita Peak in her honour.<ref>Peter Bridges, [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2000/winter/bridges-prince-climbers/ ‘A Prince of Climbers’] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112013431/http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2000/winter/bridges-prince-climbers/ |date=2013-11-12 }}, ''Virginia Quarterly Review'', 76-1 (Winter 2000), 38–51.</ref> In 2011, some of the queen's jewellery was auctioned at [[Christie's]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A collection of antique tortoiseshell jewels|url=http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/jewelry/a-collection-of-antique-tortoiseshell-4928115-details.aspx?pos=14&intObjectID=4928115&sid=|publisher=Christies}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Margarita de Saboya, Reina de Italia.jpg|Margherita of Savoy (1868)
File:Cerimonia Reale a Palazzo Madama (10).png|Royal ceremony in [[Palazzo Madama, Rome]] (1898)
File:Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy.png|The Queen Margherita in military uniform (1898)
File:Regina Margherita di Savoia-01.jpg|Regina Margherita di Savoia
File:Margherita di Savoia - Regina d'Italia.jpg|Margherita of Savoy, Queen of Italy (1870)
</gallery>

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Margherita of Savoy'''
|2= 2. [[Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa]]
|3= 3. [[Princess Elisabeth of Saxony]]
|4= 4. [[Charles Albert of Sardinia]]
|5= 5. [[Maria Theresa of Austria (1801–1855)|Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria]]
|6= 6. [[John, King of Saxony|John of Saxony]]
|7= 7. [[Amalie Auguste of Bavaria|Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria]]
|8= 8. [[Charles Emmanuel, Prince of Carignano]]
|9= 9. [[Princess Maria Christina of Saxony (1770–1851)|Princess Maria Christina of Saxony]]
|10= 10. [[Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany]]
|11= 11. [[Princess Luisa of Naples and Sicily]]
|12= 12. [[Maximilian, Hereditary Prince of Saxony]]
|13= 13. [[Princess Carolina of Parma]]
|14= 14. [[Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria]]
|15= 15. [[Caroline of Baden|Princess Caroline of Baden]]
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Margherita of Savoy}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Savoy]]|20 November|1851|4 January|1926}}
{{S-roy|it}}
|-
{{S-vac|last=[[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie Louise of Austria]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of Italian queens|Queen consort of Italy]]|years=9 January 1878 – 29 July 1900}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Elena of Montenegro]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Princesses of Savoy}}
{{Princesses of Savoy by marriage}}
{{Princesses of Piedmont}}
{{Italian consorts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margherita Of Savoy}}
[[Category:1851 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian people]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:Nobility from Turin]]
[[Category:Italian people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Queens consort of Italy]]
[[Category:Italian queen mothers]]
[[Category:Princesses of Savoy]]
[[Category:Princesses in Italy]]
[[Category:Princesses of Piedmont]]
[[Category:Italian people of German descent]]
[[Category:Dames of the Order of Saint Isabel]]
[[Category:Burials at the Pantheon, Rome]]
[[Category:Italian salon-holders]]
[[Category:Umberto I of Italy]]