HBD Sonia! Her journey from Antonio Maino to Sonia Gandhi | Pics

New Delhi: The former President of Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi is celebrating her 72th birthday today. Born in a small village of Italy, Lusiana, Sonia's real name is Antonio Maino. She changed her name after marrying Rajiv Gandhi.

As Sonia comes from a political family of India and has been in politics for almost all her life, she is one of the eminent politicians of India.

On her birthday we will discuss some unknown yet interesting facts of her life:

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#Born on Dec 9, 1946 Sonia was raised in a traditional Roman Catholic Christian family.

#Her real name is Antonia as per her birth certificate. Though she got her name Sonia by her father, Stefano Maino after his return from Russia where he had been a prisoner of war.

#Sonia is a Russian not Italian name.

#She met Rajiv Gandhi during her days in Cambridge University where she was learning English language.

#At that time she was working as a part-time waitress at Varsity restaurant and Rajiv had enrolled for an engineering degree at the university of Cambridge.

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#The young engineering student fall in love with this 18 years old Italian beauty and they got married in 1968, in a Hindu ceremony.

#On her wedding day she wore a pink cotton saree woven by Nehru.

#Sonia was often spotted on the roads of Delhi riding with husband Rajiv Gandhi on his Lambretta scooter during the early days of their marriage.

#She accepted Indian citizenship in 1983.

#A month after Sonia’s marriage, her mother was going back to Italy. To cheer up her daughter-in-law Indira Gandhi sent a letter to Sonia saying, “Hi Sonia, this is just to tell you that we all love you.” That note won Sonia’s heart and she always considered Indira as her mummy.

#She is gifted to speak many languages and she could speak nine languages including French and German.

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