Elena of Montenegro

Elena of Montenegro (; 8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) was Queen of Italy from 29 July 1900 until 9 May 1946 as the wife of King Victor Emmanuel III. As Victor Emmanuel's wife, she briefly claimed the titles Empress of Ethiopia and Queen of the Albanians; both titles were dropped when her husband formally renounced them in 1943. Elena was the daughter of King Nicholas I and Queen Milena of Montenegro. With the opening of the case for her canonization, she was made Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 2001. Biography Early life She was born in Cetinje, at the time the capital of the Principality of Montenegro. She was raised in the values and unity of the family; the conversation at the table was conducted in French, and politics and poetry were discussed with equal ease; habits and relationships in the Petrović-Njegoš family did not stifle the spontaneity of characters and personalities. She was tutored by the Swiss governess, Luisa Neukomm von Hallau (1852-1931), between the age of six until the age of twelve, after which she was educated at the Smolny Institute in Saint Petersburg in Russia until the age of 18. She was interested in pastel painting, hunting and fishing. She also attended the Russian royal house and collaborated with the Russian literary magazine Nedelya by publishing poems.