Amalija Knavs | |
---|---|
Born | Amalija Ulčnik July 9, 1945 |
Died | January 9, 2024
Miami, Florida, U.S. | (aged 78)
Citizenship |
|
Spouse |
Viktor Knavs (
m. 1966) |
Children | 2, including Melania Trump |
Relatives | Barron Trump (grandson) |
Amalija Knavs ( née Ulčnik; July 9, 1945 – January 9, 2024) was a Slovenian-American woman who was the mother of Melania Trump, the wife of former U.S. president Donald Trump and First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021. [1] [2]
In 2018, Knavs and her husband, Viktor, obtained green cards and then became naturalized U.S. citizens using the U.S.'s family-based immigration program, which Trump had denounced as " chain migration". [3] [4]
Amalija Ulčnik was born on July 9, 1945, in Judendorf-Straßengel, Austria. She was raised there and in Slovenia, which was at the time part of Yugoslavia. Her mother, Amalija (Gliha) Ulčnik, was a seamstress and homemaker and her father, Anton Ulčnik, was a cobbler and later a red-onion farmer. [1]
In her youth she worked on her family's onion farm. From 1964 to 1997, she worked at a state-owned children's clothing factory where she created and monitored textile patterns. [1]
Knavs met her husband, Viktor, a member of the Sevnica Communist Party in 1966. [5] After marrying, they lived in Sevnica, Slovenia. [6] The couple had two daughters: Ines (born 1968) and Melania (born 1970). [6]
By August 2017, Amalija and her husband were living in New York City. [7] It was later confirmed that Melania sponsored their green cards. [8] In May 2018, Amalija was in attendance for the White House Rose Garden ceremony which saw Melania launch her Be Best public awareness campaign. [9] In August 2018, Amalija and Viktor Knavs became U.S. citizens after taking an oath at a New York City courthouse. [8] The New York Times described her as not adhering in public to the "stereotypes of an American grandmother". [10]
On January 9, 2024, Knavs died at a hospital in Miami, Florida, at the age of 78. [11] She had been "very ill" since late 2023, with sources confirming to People that Melania skipped a Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party to attend to her bedside. [12]
Amalija Knavs | |
---|---|
Born | Amalija Ulčnik July 9, 1945 |
Died | January 9, 2024
Miami, Florida, U.S. | (aged 78)
Citizenship |
|
Spouse |
Viktor Knavs (
m. 1966) |
Children | 2, including Melania Trump |
Relatives | Barron Trump (grandson) |
Amalija Knavs ( née Ulčnik; July 9, 1945 – January 9, 2024) was a Slovenian-American woman who was the mother of Melania Trump, the wife of former U.S. president Donald Trump and First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021. [1] [2]
In 2018, Knavs and her husband, Viktor, obtained green cards and then became naturalized U.S. citizens using the U.S.'s family-based immigration program, which Trump had denounced as " chain migration". [3] [4]
Amalija Ulčnik was born on July 9, 1945, in Judendorf-Straßengel, Austria. She was raised there and in Slovenia, which was at the time part of Yugoslavia. Her mother, Amalija (Gliha) Ulčnik, was a seamstress and homemaker and her father, Anton Ulčnik, was a cobbler and later a red-onion farmer. [1]
In her youth she worked on her family's onion farm. From 1964 to 1997, she worked at a state-owned children's clothing factory where she created and monitored textile patterns. [1]
Knavs met her husband, Viktor, a member of the Sevnica Communist Party in 1966. [5] After marrying, they lived in Sevnica, Slovenia. [6] The couple had two daughters: Ines (born 1968) and Melania (born 1970). [6]
By August 2017, Amalija and her husband were living in New York City. [7] It was later confirmed that Melania sponsored their green cards. [8] In May 2018, Amalija was in attendance for the White House Rose Garden ceremony which saw Melania launch her Be Best public awareness campaign. [9] In August 2018, Amalija and Viktor Knavs became U.S. citizens after taking an oath at a New York City courthouse. [8] The New York Times described her as not adhering in public to the "stereotypes of an American grandmother". [10]
On January 9, 2024, Knavs died at a hospital in Miami, Florida, at the age of 78. [11] She had been "very ill" since late 2023, with sources confirming to People that Melania skipped a Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve party to attend to her bedside. [12]