Elena of Montenegro (Serbian: Јелена Петровић Његош / Jelena Petrović Njegoš; 8 January 1873 – 28 November 1952) was Queen of Italy from 29 July 1900 until 9 May 1946 as the wife of King Victor Emmanuel III.

Very attached to traditions, with a sensitive soul and a lively and curious mind, she was endowed with a strong love for nature: her favorite flower was the cyclamen.

Being of Orthodox religion, Elena, for reasons of royal opportunity and to support Queen Margherita, mother of Vittorio Emanuele, left Montenegro.

On 21 October 1896, with Vittorio Emanuele, she landed in Bari, where at the basilica of St. Nicola, before the wedding, she converted to Catholicism from Orthodox Christianity, although her father would have preferred the conversion to be proclaimed after the marriage.

During World War I Elena worked as a nurse and, with the help of the Queen Mother, she turned the Quirinal Palace and Villa Margherita into hospitals, which functioned from July 1915 until 1919.

[1] On 15 April 1937 Pope Pius XI gave her the Golden Rose, the most important honour given to a Catholic lady at the time.

Pope Pius XII, in a condolence telegram sent to her son Umberto II upon the queen's death, defined her as a "Lady of charitable work".

She influenced her husband to lobby Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy, for creation of the independent Kingdom of Montenegro in 1941.

In 1943 she subsequently obtained the release from a German prison of her nephew, Prince Michael of Montenegro, and his wife, Geneviève.

Following the war, on 9 May 1946, Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in favour of their son Umberto, and the former king assumed the title of Count of Pollenzo.

[5] In recognition of her great faith and the charitable activities she supported, Pope Pius XI bestowed on her the highest honour at that time for a woman, the Golden Rose of Christianity, twice, in 1930 and 1937.