Sonia Gandhi is an Indian politician who as of 2019, served as the president of the Indian National Congress. Besides that, she is noted to be the mother of politicians Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and the wife of the late Rajiv Gandhi who served as the Prime Minister of India until his assassination in 1991. Sonia also has a huge fan base with more than 100k followers on Instagram.
Born Name
Edvige Antonia Albina Màino
Nick Name
Sonia
Sonia Gandhi as seen in a picture taken in July 2011 in New Delhi (U.S. Department of State / Flickr / United States Government Work)
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Born Place
Lusiana, Veneto, Italy
Residence
10 Janpath, New Delhi, India
Nationality
Education
Sonia completed her primary education from Italian catholic schools near her home. She moved to Cambridge in 1964 to study English at the Bell Educational Trust.
Franco Luison – Sonia and Franco dated one another for 4 years. Franco is a football player.
Rajiv Gandhi (1965-1991) – Sonia met Rajiv Gandhi for the first time at a Varsity Restaurant in Cambridge in 1965. She fell in love with him soon after. They got married in 1968 and had a son named, Rahul Gandhi (b. June 19, 1970) and a daughter named, Priyanka Gandhi (b. January 12, 1972). The relationship came to an end following Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.
Sonia Gandhi as seen in a picture with her husband Rajiv Gandhi taken in the past (Sonia Gandhi / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
White
She is of Italian descent.
Hair Color
Salt & Pepper
With time, Sonia’s hair has turned white.
Eye Color
Hazel
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Thin eyebrows
Wears a pair of rectangular spectacles
Sonia Gandhi greeting the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Delhi on July 19, 2011 (U.S. Department of State / Flickr / United States Government Work)
Sonia Gandhi as seen in a picture taken in Raebareli during a roadshow in April 2019 (Sonia Gandhi / Instagram)
Sonia Gandhi’s Facts
She was brought up in a Roman Catholic family in Orbassano, Turin.
Sonia was academically strong and wanted to possess as much knowledge as she could.
Her father worked as a building mason until he started a company of his own. Prior to that, Stefano was an active veteran who fought with the Wehrmacht on the eastern front in “World War II” against the Soviet Military. He passed away in 1983.
Her sisters and mother resided in Orbassano in late 2004.
She was only 13 years old when she completed her schooling.
Growing up, Sonia wanted to become a flight attendant.
She was never into politics and disliked it. However, she decided to serve the nation after her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s death.
While studying in the city of Cambridge, Sonia worked as a part-time waitress.
It was only after she married Rajiv Gandhi in 1968 that she visited India for the first time and also continued to reside at Indira Gandhi‘s home. She worked as a homemaker until the assassination of her mother-in-law in 1984.
Sonia forfeited her Italian citizenship in 1983.
Initially, she was considered to be the Prime Minister after the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. However, she had refused.
It wasn’t until 1997 that she decided to make an entry into the political scenario and joined the Calcutta Plenary Session. The following year, she became the leader of the party.
From 2004 to 2014, she was considered to be one of the most influential politicians.
In August 2011, she was admitted into the “Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center” in New York for surgery on cervical cancer.
She was listed by Guardian in their “The 50 best-dressed over-50s” in March 2013.
At the 2014 “Indian General Elections”, an affidavit suggested that Sonia was in possession of a total net worth of INR 92.8 million.
She avoids any kind of junk food and practices yoga on an everyday basis.
In June 2022, an FIR was filed against Sonia Gandhi’s 71-year-old personal secretary PP Madhavan for allegedly raping a woman who had come for a job interview.
On August 27, 2022, Sonia Gandhi’s mother Paolo Maino died in her home in Italy.
