Princess Adile Zogu (1890–1966) was an Albanian princess. She was the eldest sister of Zog I of Albania.

Princess Adile Zogu
Born(1890-04-09)9 April 1890
Burgajet Castle, Governorate of Mati, Ottoman Empire
Died6 February 1966(1966-02-06) (aged 75)
Paris, France
Burial
Thiais Cemetery
Spouse
(m. 1909)
IssuePrince Salih
Prince Hysein
Prince Sherafedin
Princess Teri
Princess Danush
HouseZogu
FatherXhemal Pasha Zogu
MotherSadije Toptani
ReligionIslam
Anëtarë të Familjes Zogu

Birth

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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.[1] Her gravestone bears the date 1890.

Marriage and later life

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Adile (Adila) was married in 1909 to Major Emin Bey Agolli Doshishti (1890–1988).[citation needed] He hailed from a prominent family which owned substantial properties near Lake Ohrid (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 c. 1925, 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. They spent several years at a sanitarium in Switzerland before eventually recovering and returning to Albania.

After the overthrow of the monarchy in the 1939 Italian invasion of Albania, Adile accompanied Zog to England. After his departure to Egypt, she stayed behind and settled in Henley-on-Thames 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.[2]

Issue

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Name Birth Death Spouse Children
Prince Salih 1913 1983 Never married None
Prince Hysein 1914 ? Asma Çerçistopalli Sermet Doshishti-Agolli
Sevin Sadija Doshishti-Agolli
Prince Sherafedin 26 May 1921 June 1965 Helen Jordan John Steven Doshishti
Princess Teri 10 September 1923 October 2001 Robert Henry Cooper William Jeremy Daniel Cooper
Westrow Gerald Alan Cooper
Princess Danush 29 July 1925 11 October 1999 Robert Martin Roudabush, Jr Robert M. Roudabush III
John E. Roudabush
Teri Anne Roudabush Bennett

Honours

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Ancestry

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8. Mahmud Pasha Zogolli, Governor of Mati
4. Xhelal Pasha Zogolli, Governor of Mati
2. Xhemal Pasha Zogu, Governor of Mati
5. Ruhijé Alltuni
1. Princess Adile of Albania
6. Salah Bey Toptani
3. Sadijé Toptani
7. Annijé Toptani

References

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  1. ^ Tomes, Jason (2003). King Zog: Self-made Monarch of Albania. England: Sutton. p. 141. ISBN 9780750944397.
  2. ^ Elsie, Robert (2012). A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 504. ISBN 9781780764313.