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Business Insider

Before Melania Trump became a fashion model and first lady of the United States, she was Melanija Knavs, the Slovenian daughter of a car salesman and a textile factory worker.
Melania is the second first lady born outside the US. The first was John Quincy Adams’ wife, Louisa Catherine Adams, who was born in London. John Adams was president from 1825 to 1829.

Melania’s hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, has become a tourist destination since Donald Trump was first elected US president in November 2016, as people travel to see where the first lady spent her early years.
Here’s what to know about Melania’s upbringing and her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia.
Melania Trump grew up under communist rule in the former Yugoslavia

Melanija Knavs was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, in April 1970. She spent her childhood in Sevnica, a small town 45km (28 miles) away.
Sevnica is located along the Sava River in central Slovenia. It has a population of 17,611, according to data collected by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia in 2022.
When Melania was born, Slovenia was a communist country ruled by President Josip Tito and known as Yugoslavia. Slovenia became independent in 1991.
Sevnica, Slovenia, has a salami named after Melania

Before Melania’s rise to fame as a model and then FLOTUS, Sevnica was known for its furniture and clothing factories, as well as its annual salami festival.
Sevnica produces over 150 kinds of salami, a feat celebrated at its annual Salamiada festival. Now, Sevnica produces a salami named after the first lady, along with other local products.
Tourism has thrived in Sevnica since Melania Trump became FLOTUS

Sevnica’s tourism doubled in the year before Donald Trump took office as interest in Melania Trump grew, a tour guide told Reuters in January 2017.
For 2017 as a whole, the number of foreigners visiting Slovenia jumped 17 per cent compared to the previous year, with a total of 3.4 million visitors, Reuters reported in January 2018.
The small town capitalised on its fame as the FLOTUS’ hometown, offering tours, foods and souvenirs named after her.
Melania’s father was a car salesman and her mother, a garment worker

Melania’s father, Viktor Knavs, worked as a car salesman. Her mother, Amalija, worked at a local textile factory.
She has one sister, Ines Knauss, and a half-brother, Denis Cigelnjak.
When Melania and her sister Ines were in high school, the Knavs family moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital. There, Melania was scouted by photographer Stane Jerko and signed with a modelling agency when she was 18.
Melania Trump attended Sevnica’s Savo Kladnik Primary School

Mirjana Jelancic, a friend of Melania’s who went on to become principal of Savo Kladnik Primary School, which the first lady attended, told ABC News in March 2016 that the young Melania was “an angel” and “a very good student”.
Melania has remained connected to her hometown over the years, donating US$25,000 to a medical centre there.
She made the donation following her wedding in 2005, The New York Times reported.
Residents of Sevnica gathered to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election

American artist Brad Downey commissioned a monument of Melania from Slovenian “amateur chainsaw sculptor” Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, which was erected in a field outside Sevnica in July 2019.
The wooden statue, modelled after the first lady’s blue Ralph Lauren inauguration dress, garnered mixed reviews.
A bronze statue replaced the original wooden one in September 2020 after it was vandalised and burned in July of that year.
A plaque at the site says the new bronze statue is “dedicated to the eternal memory of a monument to Melania which stood in this location from 2019-2020”.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider.


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Melania grew up in this small, picturesque town until her family moved to Ljubljana while she was in high school; visitors have flocked here to see her old home and school since the 2016 US election


Melania grew up in this small, picturesque town until her family moved to Ljubljana while she was in high school; visitors have flocked here to see her old home and school since the 2016 US election.
