Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi

Princess Marina Torlonia
Spouse	Frank Shields Edward Slater
Issue
Francis Alexander Shields Marina Shields Edward Slater
Father	Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi
Mother	Mary Elsie Moore
Born	22 October 1916(1916-10-22) Rome, Italy
Died	15 September 1960(1960-09-15) (aged 43) Piacenza, Italy

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

Family

Torlonia was born in Rome, at Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia), the youngest daughter of 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 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 Torlonia family was one of the richest Italian families of the 19th century,^{[citation needed]} gaining its fortune in the administration of Vatican finances. Through Olimpia Giustiniani, Torlonia is a descendant of Olimpia Maidalchini making her a niece (many generations after) of Maidalchini's brother-in-law, Pope Innocent X and a descendant of Olimpia Guistiniani's husband's family, the Barberini^{[citation needed]}.

Marriages

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 Shields' 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).

Death

Princess Marina Torlonia-Slater died on September 15, 1960, in an automobile accident in Piacenza, Italy, shortly after leaving a friend's wedding. She was 43 years old.^[8]

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