Ivana Trump

Ivana Marie Trump ( Zelníčková, ; February 20, 1949 – July 14, 2022) was a Czech-American businesswoman, socialite, and model. She lived in Canada in the 1970s, before relocating to the United States and marrying Donald Trump in 1977. She held key managerial positions in The Trump Organization, as vice president of interior design, as CEO and president of Trump's Castle casino resort, and as manager of the Plaza Hotel. Ivana and Donald Trump were prominent figures in New York society throughout the 1980s. The couple's divorce, granted in 1990, was the subject of extensive media coverage. Following the divorce, she developed her own lines of clothing, fashion jewelry, and beauty products which were sold on QVC UK and the Home Shopping Network. She wrote an advice column for Globe called "Ask Ivana" from 1995 through 2010, and published several books, including works of fiction, self-help, and the autobiography Raising Trump. Early life and education Ivana Marie Zelníčková was born on February 20, 1949 in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia (now Zlín, Czech Republic), the daughter of Miloš Zelníček and Marie Zelníčková (née Francová). Her father was an electrical engineer and her mother worked as a telephone operator. He encouraged his daughter's skiing abilities, a practice she began at age four. After developing skills as a skier, she joined the junior national ski team, which offered her opportunities to travel beyond the Soviet-era communist boundaries of what was then the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. She attended Charles University in Prague and earned a master's degree in physical education in 1972. In 1970, Ivana appeared on Czechoslovak Television in the children's television series Pan Tau. Accounts differ as to Ivana's history in competitive skiing. It was reported that she was selected as an alternate on the Czechoslovak ski team during the 1972 Winter Olympics, specializing in downhill and slalom. However, in 1989, Petr Pomezný, Secretary General of the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee, denied the claim and stated that despite searching extensively, no record could be found of her involvement.