Heiress of the luxury brand BVLGARI, Anna Bulgari Calissoni, passed away at the age of 93 on Friday.
She was a of descendant of Sotirios Voulgaris, the founder of the BVLGARI dynasty.
Anna spoke fluent Greek and was proud to be from Thesprotia, the most north-western prefecture of Epirus.
The announcement of her death was made by a spokeswoman of the family on Sunday.
Anna Bulgari Calissoni lived in Italy, but she loved Greece and even in her last few years of life, she did not miss a summer away from the city which her grandfather started the jewellery empire in.
One of the most difficult times of her life, was when Anna and her son were kidnapped for 35 days, without anyone knowing if they were alive or dead.
After the terrifying experience, she revealed: “My son and I were abducted and held hostage for 35 days. They cut off my child’s ear in order to get the ransom. The kidnappers were from Sardinia. Murderers. They kept us on the floor and in the cold on a mountain for 35 days. My family paid the kidnappers 4 million lire, or 2 million euros. The child was strong, he said nothing, his ear was cut off with a knife. I lost 10 years of my life. It was terrible.”
After the kidnapping, Anna Bulgari lived away from the public light and was rarely seen in public, apart from charity events.
In March of 2019, the mother of three met with officials from the Municipality of Paramythia to learn about the plans for the former school her grandfather had donated, which is being transformed into a centre for arts, culture and education.
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