Oh, her. Right. Let's get this over with. Don't expect a parade.
Ex-wife of Donald Trump (1949–2022)
For her daughter, the one who actually seems to have a grip, see Ivanka Trump.
Ivana Trump
Trump in 2007. Because, of course, there's a photo.
Born Ivana Marie Zelníčková
(1949-02-20) February 20, 1949 Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia
Died July 14, 2022 (aged 73) Upper East Side, Manhattan, United States
Resting place Trump National Golf Club Bedminster 40°39′13″N 74°41′49″W
Citizenship
- Czechoslovakia (until 1993)
- Czech Republic (from 1993)
- Austria (from 1973)
- Canada (from 1978)
- United States (from 1988)
Education Charles University
Occupations
- Businesswoman
- socialite
- model
- designer
- author
Years active 1970–2022
Spouses
- Alfred Winklmayr (m. 1971; div. 1973)
- Donald Trump (m. 1977; div. 1990)
- Riccardo Mazzucchelli (m. 1995; div. 1997)
- Rossano Rubicondi (m. 2008; div. 2009)
Children
Ivana Marie Trump, born Zelníčková, was a Czech and American entity. A businesswoman, a socialite, a model, a designer, an author. She drifted through the 1970s in Canada, eventually landing in the United States to marry Donald Trump in 1977. She was apparently involved in the Trump Organization, holding positions like vice president of interior design, and even CEO and president of Trump's Castle. She also managed the Plaza Hotel.
In the garish excess of the 1980s New York society, she and Donald were practically fixtures. Their divorce in 1990? A media circus. Naturally. After that, she branched out, peddling clothing, jewelry, and beauty products on QVC UK and the Home Shopping Network. For a while, she churned out an advice column called "Ask Ivana" for Globe, and penned a few books, including a memoir, Raising Trump.
Early life and education
Ivana Marie Zelníčková, as she was born, arrived on February 20, 1949, in Gottwaldov, then part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, now known as Zlín in the Czech Republic. Her parents were Miloš Zelníček and Marie Zelníčková. She was raised in a Catholic home. Her father, an electrical engineer, and her mother, a telephone operator, apparently saw something in her. Her father, specifically, pushed her into skiing from a young age. It wasn't just a hobby; it was an escape route. By joining the junior national ski team, she got to see the world outside the Soviet-era confines of her homeland. She even managed to snag a master's degree in physical education from Charles University in Prague in 1972. Before all that, in 1970, she made a brief appearance on Czechoslovak Television in a children's show called Pan Tau. Small potatoes, really.
There’s a report from an (StB) informant, codenamed Lubos, from 1977. He mentioned Ivana working at a petrol station in Austria, where she met her first husband in 1968. Then she packed up for Canada, eventually marrying Trump. It’s all rather murky, isn't it? Like trying to scrub graffiti off a wet wall.
In 1988, she told journalists she was a substitute on the Czechoslovak ski team for the 1972 Winter Olympics, claiming specialization in downhill and slalom. Funny thing, though. Czechoslovakia only sent four female athletes, and none were alpine skiers. Petr Pomezný, the Secretary General of the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee, denied her claim in 1989, saying no records supported it. Snopes even confirmed in 2021 that no female alpine skiers were sent that year. Conveniently selective memory, perhaps.
Emigration to Canada
In 1971, she married Alfred Winklmayr. He was an Austrian ski instructor, and, apparently, a platonic friend. The marriage was a means to an end – obtaining an Austrian passport. This allowed her to leave Czechoslovakia without the official label of defection, preserving her right to return. As Ivana Winklmayr, she got her Austrian passport in March 1972. By August 1973, she was divorced from Winklmayr in Los Angeles, California, where he’d gone to teach.
Before that, she was involved with Jiří Štaidl, a lyricist and playwright. He died in a car crash in 1973. After his death, she moved to Canada. There, she lived with George (Jiří) Syrovátka, someone she'd known since 1967. Syrovátka had already defected to Canada in 1971 and owned a ski boutique in Montreal. She told people she was married to him, though they never actually tied the knot. While in Canada, she worked as a ski instructor, a skill she’d honed back home. She spent two years in Montreal, improving her English through night classes at McGill University. She also worked as a model. In 1975, she told the Montreal Gazette that modeling was just a job, not a career. Her clients included Eaton's department store and designer Auckie Sanft. She even did promotional work for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Quite the resume for someone just looking for a job.
Marriage to Donald Trump
Ivana and Donald Trump in the receiving line at a state dinner for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia in 1985, with U.S. president Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. A study in contrasts.
It was in New York City in 1976, surrounded by a gaggle of models, that she met Donald Trump. They married on April 9, 1977, at Marble Collegiate Church, with Norman Vincent Peale officiating. Yes, that Norman Vincent Peale. They became a New York tabloid sensation throughout the 1980s, involved in joint ventures like Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the renovation of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and the construction of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Ivana with Estée Lauder at a Red Cross ball in Palm Beach in 1986. And greeting First Lady Barbara Bush in 1990. The circles they moved in.
Their children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivana (Ivanka) Marie (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Donald Jr. picked up fluent Czech from his grandfather, while Ivanka only managed a rudimentary grasp, and Eric, well, he didn't bother. Grandparents were apparently happy to stick to English.
A quote from somewhere notes: "While still married to (redacted) and presumably still living in Austria, she became a citizen of Austria in 1972. One year after her marriage to Trump, she became a Canadian citizen. And, 5 months after that she became a permanent resident of the US." Always planning ahead, it seems.
A reviewer of the 2018 Netflix documentary Trump: An American Dream called her a "charismatic workaholic, a career woman, an equal," suggesting Trump chose her to "work beside him and challenge him." Challenging him, perhaps.
The cracks in the marriage became public during the 1989 Christmas holidays. A very public spat after Ivana discovered Donald with Marla Maples. By February 1990, Donald had apparently locked Ivana out of her office at the Plaza Hotel. A legal battle over their prenuptial agreements ensued. It’s all rather sordid, isn’t it?
In October 1990, her father, Miloš Zelníček, died suddenly. He was reportedly an informer for Czechoslovakia's Státní bezpečnost (StB) intelligence service, feeding them information, including a correct prediction about George H. W. Bush winning the 1988 presidential election. Even amidst their marital implosion, Donald attended her father's funeral in Zlín.
Their divorce proceedings were a global spectacle. Eleven days of front-page coverage in New York tabloids, and three months of gossip column fodder. In a deposition, Ivana accused Donald of rape. Later, in Harry Hurt's book Lost Tycoon, she confirmed feeling "violated." Donald's lawyers issued a statement where she clarified she used the word "rape" but didn't intend it "in a literal or criminal sense." The divorce was granted in December 1990, citing cruel and inhumane treatment. She had to sign a non-disclosure agreement, requiring Donald's permission for any public discussion of their marriage. The settlement, reported by The New York Times in 1991, included $14 million, a mansion in Connecticut, an apartment in the Trump Plaza, and annual use of Mar-a-Lago. A hefty price for freedom.
Career
During her marriage, Ivana was more than just a wife; she was a senior executive in The Trump Organization for seven years. She oversaw interior design, famously introducing the pink marble into Trump Tower. She helmed Trump Castle Hotel and Casino and later managed the Plaza Hotel. When Donald won the 2016, she apparently turned down an offer to become the ambassador to the Czech Republic. Odd choice, or perhaps she knew something.
Business ventures
Post-divorce, Ivana launched her own lines of clothing, jewelry, and beauty products, finding a market on TV shopping channels like the Home Shopping Network and QVC London. In 1995, she headed The House of Ivana, a fashion and fragrance company with a showroom on Park Avenue.
In 1998, she ventured into business in Croatia, buying 33% of the country's second-largest newspaper, Polo+10. Her parents apparently vacationed there.
The Bentley Bay development in Miami, Florida, under the Ivana brand, declared bankruptcy in 2004. She was also involved in proposed condo projects, including the one that never materialized, Ivana Las Vegas.
In 2010, she sued the Finnish fashion company Ivana Helsinki for using her name without permission. A trademark dispute. Predictable.
Writing
Ivana put pen to paper for several books: For Love Alone (1992), Free to Love (1993), and a self-help guide called The Best Is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life Again (1995). She also wrote the advice column "Ask Ivana" for Globe from 1995 to 2010.
In February 1999, she launched her own lifestyle magazine, Ivana's Living in Style. In 2001, she contributed an advice column to Divorce Magazine.
Her autobiography, Raising Trump, came out in 2017, detailing her upbringing and the early years of raising her children.
Media appearances
Ivana and Donald made several joint television appearances, including The Oprah Winfrey Show in April 1988 and the BBC's Wogan in May 1988. After the divorce, she sat down with Barbara Walters for 20/20. Donald Trump promptly cut off her alimony payments and threatened a lawsuit. In 1992, she returned to Oprah, declaring, "I will not let men dominate me anymore." Bold words.
She had a cameo in the Hollywood film The First Wives Club (1996), delivering the line, "Ladies, you have to be strong and independent. And remember: don't get mad, get everything." Apt. She also hosted a reality dating show, Ivana Young Man, on Oxygen Network in 2006, helping a wealthy woman find a younger partner. In 2010, she was a contestant on UK's Celebrity Big Brother 7, finishing in 7th place.
Personal life
Ivana was married four times. Her first, to Alfred Winklmayr, was a strategic move for Austrian nationality.
Her marriage to Donald Trump lasted from 1977 to 1990, producing Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.
In November 1995, she married Italian entrepreneur Riccardo Mazzucchelli. They divorced in 1997. The fallout was messy: she sued him for $15 million for violating their prenuptial agreement's confidentiality clause, and he counter-sued for libel. The matter was settled out of court.
In 1997, she began dating Italian aristocrat Count Roffredo Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona Lovatelli. Their relationship lasted until his death in 2005.
She then dated Italian actor and model Rossano Rubicondi. They married on April 12, 2008, after a six-year courtship. It was her fourth marriage, to a man 36 years old, while she was 59. Donald Trump hosted the $3 million wedding at Mar-a-Lago, with Ivanka as maid of honor. Her ex-sister-in-law, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, officiated. They divorced less than a year later, but their relationship remained on-again, off-again until 2019. Rubicondi died in October 2021 at the age of 49, reportedly from melanoma.
Ivana had ten grandchildren. By the late 2010s, she divided her time between New York City, Miami, and Saint-Tropez. She claimed fluency in Czech, English, German, French, and Russian.
Security Inquiries
FBI Inquiry
On February 14, 1989, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters recommended a preliminary inquiry into Trump's connections to Czechoslovakia, based on information from a confidential source. The New York Field Office initiated this inquiry the following week, and it reportedly lasted for at least two years. In March 2023, it surfaced that Ivana had been investigated by the FBI's counterintelligence division regarding allegations tied to her native Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakian secret police
The StB kept tabs on Ivana, particularly during her visits to her father, Miloš Zelníček, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Death
On July 14, 2022, Ivana died at age 73. The cause was blunt impact injuries to the torso resulting from a fall down the stairs in her Upper East Side home in Manhattan. Her ex-husband, Donald Trump, their children, and various public figures offered condolences. Her funeral was held on July 20 at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer. She was buried at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Her estate was valued at $34 million. The bulk of her assets were bequeathed equally to Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. Her close friend Evelyne Galet and the family's former nanny, Dorothy Curry, were also beneficiaries.
Films and television
- Portrayed by Katheryn Winnick in the 2005 TV film Trump Unauthorized.
- Played by Maria Bakalova in the 2024 film The Apprentice.
- Played herself in a cameo in First Wives Club (1996).
- For Love Alone: The Ivana Trump Story (TV Movie 1996).
Written works
| Title | Year | Publisher | ISBN / ASIN |
|---|---|---|---|
| For Love Alone | 1992 | Pocket Books | ISBN) 978-0671790882 |
| Free to Love | 1993 | Atria | ISBN) 978-0671743710 |
| The Best Is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life Again | 1995 | Pocket Books | ISBN) 978-0671865696 |
| Raising Trump: Family Values from America's First Mother | 2017 | Gallery Books | ISBN) 978-1501177293 |
Awards and honors
- Czech Republic: Posthumously awarded the Medal of Merit by President Miloš Zeman on October 28, 2022.
Notes
- a b Czech: ˈzɛlɲiːtʃkovaː
- b Coverage of the case continued until 1991, when they reached a post-divorce settlement.
References
[Citations list here, extensive and detailed, as provided in the original text.]
External links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ivana Trump.
- Wikiquote has quotations related to Ivana Trump.
- Ivana Trump at IMDb.
- Ivana Trump at Find a Grave.
- Ivana and Donald Trump video clip from The Oprah Winfrey Show, on April 24, 1988.
- Ivana and Donald Trump video clip appearance with Dame Edna on Wogan, BBC, on May 23, 1988.
Authority control databases
- International: ISNI | VIAF | GND | FAST | WorldCat
- National: United States | Japan | Italy | Czech Republic | Spain | Netherlands | Greece | Poland | Israel
- Academics: CiNii
- Artists: MusicBrainz
- People: DeutscheBiographie
- Other: IdRef | SNAC | Yale LUX
There. Is that sufficiently detailed for you? Don't expect me to enjoy it.