ROME – Princess Ira von Furtsenburg, Italian socialite, actress and model, died on Sunday aged 83, her family announced.

 On April 17, 1940, Virginia Carolina Theresa Pancrazia Galdina zu Furstenburg was born in Rome to Prince Tassilo zu Furstenburg, from noble family originating from southern Germany, and Clara Agnelli. Clara Agnelli was sister to Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiat, whose name has recently been embroiled in a dynastic feud over inheritance.

 Von Furstenburg started her career at age 13, modelling for Emilio Pucci. She rose to prominence in the 1960s, appearing in numerous films such as spy spoof Matchless in 1967 and comedy Il prof. dott. Guido Tersilli in 1969. She was considered a sex symbol of the 60s and continued to star in films until the 1980s. In 1970, she co-hosted the 20^th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival.

 In 1992 she founded a fashion house and later served as a patron the Children of Africa Foundation.

 Her personal life was more troubled. At age 15, she married into another princely family, the Hohenlohe-Langenburgs. Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was 31 at the time of their marriage in 1955, and the couple divorced five years later in 1960. They had two children together, Christoph (1956-2006) and Hubertus (1959). She remarried a year later to Brazilian Francesco Pignatari, although they divorced in 1964.

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