Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi

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Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitelli-Cesi (October 22, 1916–September 15, 1960) was an Italian-American socialite best known as the paternal grandmother of the actress and model Brooke Shields.

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[edit] Family

She was born in Rome at Palazzo Torlonia, the youngest daughter of Don Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi[1] and his wife, Mary Elsie Moore, a daughter of Charles Arthur Moore, a shipping broker and hardware manufacturer from Connecticut.[2][3] Her brother was Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi, the husband of Infanta Beatriz of Spain (an aunt of King Juan Carlos I of Spain).[4]

The Torlonias were one of the richest Italian families of the 19th century, gaining their fortune in the administration of Vatican finances.

[edit] Marriages

Donna Marina Torlonia's first husband was Francis Xavier Shields (1909 - 1975), the American amateur tennis player, whom she met in Rome at a tennis championship.[5] They married in 1940 in North Conway, New Hampshire,[6]. The Shieldses had two children: Francis Alexander Shields (the father of the actress and model Brooke Shields) and a daughter, Marina Shields. They later divorced.

Her second husband, whom she married on 29 December 1950, was Edward W. Slater, an architect,[7] by whom she had a son, Edward (born 1955).

[edit] Death

Princess Marina Torlonia-Slater died on September 15, 1960, in an automobile accident in Piacenza, Italy, shortly after leaving a friend's wedding.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Marino Torlonia Dead at 77", The New York Times, 7 March 1933
  2. ^ "Miss Moore Weds the Duke Torlonia: New York Girl Becomes Duchess of Poli at Quiet Wedding in Greenwich", The New York Times, 16 August 1907
  3. ^ "Princess Torlonia Dead Here at 53; Former Wife of Late Italian Nobleman Succumbs to Long Illness", The New York Times, 22 December 1941
  4. ^ "Princess Torlonia Dead Here at 53; Former Wife of Late Italian Nobleman Succumbs to Long Illness", The New York Times, 22 December 1941
  5. ^ "Frank X. Shields Is Dead at 66", The New York Times, 20 August 1975
  6. ^ "Donna Torlonia Wed to Frank X. Shields", The New York Times, 14 July 1940
  7. ^ "Mrs. M. T. Shields Is Wed; Former Marina Torlonia Bride Here of Edward W. Slater", The New York Times, 30 December 1950
  8. ^ "Princess Dies in Crash; Marina Torlonia Slater Killed in Accident in Italy", The New York Times, 16 September 1960