Adile Zogu
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Princess Adile Zogu (1890–1966) was an Albanian princess. She was the eldest sister of
Zog I of Albania Zog I (born Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli; 8 October 18959 April 1961) was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as King ...
.


Birth

Like all of Zog I's sisters, there is a degree of confusion regarding Adile's date of birth. Over the duration of the Zogist monarchy, Zog's three youngest sisters, Myzejen, Ruhije and Maxhide (all of them unmarried) became very coy about their ages. As they grew older, their 'official' dates of birth were advanced forwards, and those of Adile and Nafije were similarly adjusted to prevent a suspicious age-gap. The death of their father, Xhemal Pasha Zogu, was advanced forward at around the same time. Adile was eventually said to have been born in 1894, though 1890–91 is a more likely date. Her gravestone bears the date 1890.


Marriage and later life

Adile (Adila) was married in 1909 to Major Emin Bey Agolli Doshishti (1890–1988). He hailed from a prominent family which owned substantial properties near
Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...
(his parents were Albanian aristocrats Salih Agolli Doshishti and wife Gylijé Allaj). The marriage had probably been arranged years in advance by her mother. The couple had five children. They separated in , though never officially divorced. Adile ran the household where she and her sisters (together with the Queen Mother prior to 1934) lived, as the younger princesses had little knowledge of domestic management. She was absent for long periods during the early days of the Albanian Kingdom after she and her youngest daughter Danush contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. They spent several years at a sanitarium in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
before eventually recovering and returning to Albania. After the overthrow of the monarchy in the 1939
Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign which was launched by Fascist Italy, Italy against Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...
, Adile accompanied Zog to England. After his departure to Egypt, she stayed behind and settled in
Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...
with her two daughters (who were English-educated) and her sister-in-law, Princess Ruhije Xhelal Zogolli (1881–1956, who was also the first wife of Xhelal Zogu, Adile's elder paternal half-brother). In the late 1950s, she rejoined her surviving siblings in France. After Zog's death in 1961, she lived in Paris with her eldest son, Salih, until her own death in 1966.


Issue


Honours

* Dame Grand Cross of the
Order of Fidelity The Order of Besa (), also known as the Order of Fidelity, was established by Ahmet Zogu (later King Zog I) when he was President of Albania. Founded on 22 December 1926, it was initially awarded in four classes (1. Grand Cordon with star–'' ...
(Kingdom of Albania).


Ancestry


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zogu, Adile 1890 births 1966 deaths Albanian royalty Albanian princesses 20th-century Albanian women People from Mat (municipality) People from Scutari vilayet House of Zogu Albanian expatriates in France