She's the former First Lady of the United States and could soon hold that title again, but who was Melania Trump before the fame and politics? Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated memoir, learn how a little girl named Melanija who grew up in communist Yugoslavia grew up to be one of the most influential women in the US – at least, for a time. She was born Melanija Knavs on April 26, 1970 in Yugoslavia, now part of present-day Slovenia, to a chauffer father and patternmaker mother. Her father was a member of Yugoslavia's communist party and the family was relatively well-off, which helped Melanija pursue her dream of modelling after being scouted at age 16 by Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko.
Within a few years her career had taken off in Europe, where she went by an alternate spelling of her name, Melania Knauss. In 1996, the 26-year-old made the big move to the US to pursue more lucrative jobs. Two years later, she met businessman Donald Trump at an exclusive party at the Kit Kat Club in Times Square, New York.
At the time, Donald was 52 and in the middle of his divorce from second wife Marla Maples. He'd also arrived at the party with cosmetics heiress Celina Midelfart as his date, but that didn't stop him from pursuing young model Melania, who refused to give him her number. Instead, he gave her all of his – from his business number, to his office's in hotels to his home in New York.
Melania waited a week to call and arrange their first date at G.