King Boris III (1894-1943)


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mknyazev

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I'd appreciate more info on Boris III (and his connections with Hitler) and Giovanna di Savoya (their photos?)
Thanks:
 
mknyazev said:
I'd appreciate more info on Boris III (and his connections with Hitler) and Giovanna di Savoya (their photos?)
Thanks:
Click to expand...

A good book on the subject is a "Crown of Thorns".
 
King Boris III (1894-1943) and Queen Giovanna née Italy (1907-2000)

Could anyone post the pictures of Queen Giovanna's funeral in 2000?

Thanks

Here is a link with King Simeon and Queen Margarita attending an official fonction. The Queen looks a little bit lost. The king has always to look for her. I thought that after so many years of suffering and waiting, she will enjoy being back in Bulgaria and contributing to the society as a wife of a former king and prime minister. King Simeon as usual seems to be very comfortable in public. He loves Bulgaria and the Bulgarians.

YouTube - Cáre Simeon II u Stár Bišnov -- 1
 
All I know about Queen Giovanna was that she was very fond of animals and one of the local dogs´homes had their charity sale in the garden of her house in Monte Estoril. It was always very interesting and she quite often appeared and for that I will always remember her as a lovely person.
 
Boris III of Bulgaria (1894-1943) and Giovanna of Italy (1907-2000)

Boris III Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver, King of the Bulgarians (Sofia, 30 January 1894 - Sofia, 28 August 1943); married in Assisi on 25 October 1930 to Princess Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria of Italy (Rome, 13 November 1907 - Estoril, 26 February 2000)

Reign: 1918 - 1943

Dynasty: Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Kohary)

Predecessor: King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

Successor: King Simeon II of Bulgaria

Children: Princess Marie-Louise of Bulgaria, Mrs. Chrobok and King Simeon II of Bulgaria

Parents Boris: King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and Princess Marie-Louise of Bourbon-Parma

Parents Giovanna: King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Princess Elena of Montenegro

Siblings Boris: Prince Kyril of Bulgaria; Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria and Duchess Nadejda of Württemberg

Siblings Giovanna: Princess Yolanda of Italy, Css of Bergolo; Princess Mafalda of Hesse-Kassel; King Umberto II of Italy; Princess Maria Francesca of Bourbon-Parma
 
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From wikipedia:

Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria (January 30, 1894 – August 28, 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier), son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following Bulgaria's defeat in World War I. This was the country's second major defeat in only five years, after the disastrous Second Balkan War (1913). Under the Treaty of Neuilly, Bulgaria was forced to cede new territories and pay crippling reparations to its neighbors, thereby threatening political and economic stability. Two political forces, the Agrarian Union and the Communist Party, were calling for the overthrowing of the monarchy and the change of the government. It was in these circumstances that Boris succeeded to the throne.

One year after Boris's accession, Aleksandar Stamboliyski (or Stambolijski) of the Bulgarian People's Agrarian Union was elected prime minister. Though popular with the large peasant class, Stambolijski earned the animosity of the middle class and military, which led to his toppling in a military coup on 9 June 1923. In 1925, there was a short border war, known as the Incident at Petrich, with Greece which was resolved with the help of the League of Nations. Also in 1925, there were two attempts on Boris's life perpetrated by leftist extremists. After the second attempt, the military in power exterminated in reprisals several thousand communists and agrarians including representatives of the intelligentsia.
In the coup on May 19, 1934, the Zveno military organisation established a dictatorship and abolished the political parties in Bulgaria. King Boris was reduced to the status of a puppet king as a result of the coup. In the following year, he staged a counter-coup and assumed control of the country by establishing a regime loyal to him. The political process was controlled by the Tsar, but a form of parliamentary rule was re-introduced, without the restoration of the political parties.

Boris married Giovanna of Italy, daughter of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, first in Assisi in October 1930 (attended by Benito Mussolini), and then at an Orthodox ceremony in Sofia. The marriage produced a daughter, Maria Louisa, in January 1933, and a son and heir to the throne, Simeon, in 1937. Tsar Boris was on the front cover of the Time Magazine of 20 January 1941 wearing full military uniform.
Click to expand...


Read more here.
 
From wikipedia:

Tsaritsa Ioanna of Bulgaria (Italian: Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria and English: Jovanna Elizabeth Antonia Romana Mary) (13 November 1907 - 26 February 2000) was born Princess Giovanna of Savoy and was the last Tsaritsa of Bulgaria.

Giovanna was born in Rome, the third daughter and fourth child of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Queen Elena, former Princess of Montenegro. She was raised in the Villa Savoia and from a young age was aware of her aim in life: to further the House of Savoy's dynastic aspirations through marriage. Upon her christening into the Catholic faith, she was given the names Giovanna Elisabetta Antonia Romana Maria. Her older brother was the future Italian king Umberto II of Italy.

Although it would eventually prove to be of no assistance to Italy, Giovanna duly married Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria in Assisi in October 1930, in a Roman Catholic ceremony, attended by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Bulgarians deemed her a good match, partly because of her mother's native Slavic ethnicity. At a second ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria, Giovanna (who herself was daughter of a Roman-Catholic father and a born Orthodox mother) was married in an Eastern Orthodox Church ceremony, bringing her into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. Giovanna adopted the Bulgarian version of her name, Ioanna. Giovanna knew the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII who was able to help her. She and Boris had two children: Marie-Louise of Bulgaria, born in January 1933, and then the future Simeon II of Bulgaria in 1937.
In the years prior to World War II, Giovanna became heavily involved in charities, including the financing of a children's hospital. During the war she counterbalanced her husband consigning Bulgaria to the Axis by obtaining transit visas to enable a number of Jews to escape to Argentina. Tsar Boris also proved less malleable than Hitler had hoped, and following a meeting in Berlin in August 1943, the Tsar became seriously ill and died, aged 49. While stress and a heart condition were the official reasons for his death, rumours that he had been poisoned by Hitler were voiced at the time and have since grown. Giovanna's son, Simeon, became the new Tsar and a Regency was established led by his uncle Prince Kyril, who was considered more pliable by the Germans.
Click to expand...

Read more here.
 
Thank you for posting these unique videos. Understanding the Bulgarian language, I found all 5 of the videos very touching and informative.
 
I was very happy to read this information about a book esp. about Giovanna di Savoia
 
One of most exciting days for me was this last Wednesday when I had the chance to talk on the phone with HRH Princess Maria Louisa di Savoya. The 77 year old Princess lives in a small town in New Jersey. I had the unique opportunity to talk to her in English and in Bulgarian. I hope I will keep in touch with her. This is entirely new experience for me and certainly most memorable.
 
Before his marriage to Giovanna, Boris III promised Pope Pius that any children he and Giovanna had would be raised as Catholics.
Boris refused to sign a contract. The Pope agreed. The wedding date for Giovanna and Boris was set.

​

I like the fact that Boris III gave women the right to vote.
This was a nice recognition because women were not just housewives. They also were people.
​
 
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Here is a website to commemorate the 120 anniversary of the birth of King Boris III. It is a huge collection of photos, very well worth a visit.

www.tsarboris.com
 
He barely escaped death by explosion in the greatest bomb assault of his time (1925, at a funeral) because he was attending the funerals of people who had travelled with him at the time of another assault against him. Life is such a strange thing... And it happened on Holy Thursday, of all days.
 
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May I recommend a book entitled: “King’s Ransom”, by Jan Beazeley. It is available on Amazon. It is an excellent biography of King Boris and of his determination to save the 50,000 Jews in Bulgaria from Hitler.
 
MissByrd said:
One of history’s hero’s. It isn’t surprising that his people still honor him.
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Not all of his people, though. I've read some novels from the times of Communistic Bulgaria - you'll be surprised by the viciousness of his portrayal, as well as Queen Ioanna's. Propaganda at its finest! I don't recommend novels from this time on principle - too many reasons that have nothing to do with royalty - but their portrayals alone would have convinced me to pass on that period in literature... This image has been a lasting one for at least one generation, alas.
 
Dear Moran:
I’m not surprised that there are still those who would besmirch King Boris’ name. But, saving the lives of the thousands of Jewish people in Bulgaria speaks for itself.
And, thank you for sharing the video of his funeral. It was an incredibly moving historical event.
 
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