By Gajtis Bejleri
From a royal wedding in Albania to the fight against the Nazis in France and back to the land that crowned her sister, benevolent and generous to assist and help the poor, friendly, and freedom loving people of Albania: This is the story of Sylviane Muselier, sister of Queen Geraldine, Mother Queen of the Albanians, depicted in a documentary film by Albanian director Ilia Terpini.
“The Love of a French Lady for Albania” conveys the story of Sylviane’s life, a life full of attachment and sympathy for a land, where only a few have ever heard of her.
Along with Sylviane’s own memories, the film includes interviews from people close to her. Among them, Sk쯤er Zogu, nephew of King Zog I, Crown Prince Leka I and his son, Leka Anwar, former Albanian Ambassador to France, Besnik Mustafaj, and her son, Renaud Muselier, who serves as MP in the National Assembly of France, shared their thoughts on Sylviane, her life and devotion to Albania.
“The documentary,” director Terpini explains, “is put together with footages from early archives dating back from the King’s wedding, shots from Marseille, Paris, and Mrs. Muselier’s visits to Albania.”
Sylviane’s connections with Albania
Sylviane was born in 1928, to ʭile Muselier, a French Admiral and Countess Gladys Virginia Steuart de Nagy-Apponyi, who gave birth to Geraldine from her first marriage to the late Count Gyula Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi. Only 10 years old, Sylviane traveled to Albania to participate in her sister’s wedding to King Zog I. Then she fell in love with the Albanian people, their traditions, culture, hospitality, and folk costumes.
In 1993, Sylviane returned to Albania for the first time since her sister left Albania in April 1939. Since then, she has returned time after time to Albania, bringing along food and medicines to help those in need.
In Marseille, where she lives, Sylviane runs the hospital she built years ago. At “Saint Martin” they treat paralytic syndromes and neurotic traumas. There, she has welcomed many Albanians who were injured or lost their limbs during the 1997 turmoil and its aftermath.
“I love the Albanians, and I always will,” she says. “I have really good friends here, and at the premiere of the documentary I realized how many I have. And this brings me closer to these people.”
Sylviane is still helping Albania, and praises the country for its fast and steady development.
“The Love of a French Lady for Albania” premiered at Millenium 2 Cinema in Tirana on Saturday, June 14. Director Ilia Terpini said he is looking at the possibilities to show the documentary in Marseille and Paris as well.
Albanian Royal Family
Ahmet Zogu was born in Mati, Albania, on October 8, 1895. During the early 1920s, Zog served as Governor of Shkod철(1920-1), Minister of the Interior (March-November 1920, 1921-1924), and chief of the Albanian military (1921-1922). In 1924, his main rival Fan S. Noli led the Revolution of 1924 and Zogu fled to Yugoslavia. He returned to Albania with the assistance of Yugoslav forces and Yugoslavia-based White Russian troops, and became Prime Minister. Zog was officially elected to the post of President of Albania by the Constituent Assembly on January 21, 1925, taking office on February 1. On September 1, 1928 Zogu was crowned King of the Albanians (Mbret i Shqiptar췥 in Albanian). In April 1938, Zog married Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi, a Roman Catholic aristocrat who was half-Hungarian and half-American. Their only child, HRH Crown Prince Leka, was born in Albania on April 5, 1939. Two days after the birth of his son and heir, on Good Friday, April 7, 1939, Mussolini’s Italy invaded Albania. King Zog fled to Greece and latter to England. Zogu died in France in 1961.
