Behind every successful man is a woman, and that adage holds true generally. The President-elect, Mr. Donald Trump’s outstanding electoral victory yesterday was certainly a stunning upset that proved to be quite the spectacle around the world, and although shockwaves are still reverberating, things do seem to have returned to normalcy elsewhere. Back to Mr. Trump’s wife: Melania Trump. Is she going to be the most elegant First Lady to date, and what do we know about her? After all, she will be in the news on a far more frequent basis over the course of the next four years as opposed to before, despite having celebrity status.
Born as Melanija Knavs on April 26, 1970, Melania is also known as Melania Knauss to some. She is of Slovene-American descent, and is a former model, which comes across as no surprise knowing how Donald Trump has a taste for beauty in all forms, ranging from people to things.
Melania’s early life
On April 26, 1970, Melania was born in Novo Mesto, a place that is located in southeastern Slovenia. Back then, there was still Yugoslavia, and she was the daughter of Amalija and Viktor Knavs. Her young life was not too harsh or difficult, as her parents managed car and motorcycle dealerships for a state-owned vehicle manufacturer. Other blood relations include a sister, Ines, as well as an older half-brother who the fruit from her father's previous relationship.
She is fluent in six languages: her native Slovenian, Serbian, English, French, Italian and German. Now this is certainly going to come in good stead for her as the First Lady of the United States of America, that’s for sure!
Journey to US citizenship
Her first step on American soil was on a business visitor visa in August 1996. Subsequently, she managed to get a coveted green card for herself before ending up as a lawful permanent resident in 2001 -- without any talk of building walls to prevent folks from communist countries from coming in back then. Her US citizenship was obtained in 2006, one year after she tied the knot with Donald Trump.
Modeling career
Melania Trump started modeling from the tender age of 16. She then posed for Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko, and a couple of years older, she signed with a modeling agency that is located in Milan, Italy. Her looks certainly got her places: she was second in the 1992 Jana Magazine "Look of the Year" contest, which netted her an international modeling contract.
Relocating to New York City in 1996, she managed to work hard and end up on the covers of coveted magazines such as Harper's Bazaar (Bulgaria), Ocean Drive, In Style Weddings, New York Magazine, Avenue, Allure, Vanity Fair (Italy), and Vogue.
Family life
Melania became a mother to Trump’s son, Barron William Trump, in March a decade ago. Today, this 10-year old boy is a bundle of energy, where he does play a round or two of golf with Donald himself, while preferring to be seen in a suit and tie. The apple certainly does not fall too far away from the tree, does it?
Melania and Donald do seem to be happily married, and she will assume the role of First Lady of the United States next year on January 20. That would make her more the exception than the rule, being a foreign-born woman to hold such a high public office. The last person to do so could be traced to nearly one century earlier, Louisa Adams, who was the British-born wife of John Quincy Adams.
