Isabella Rossellini

Rossellini in 2010, photo by Prphotos.com

Birth Name: Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini

Place of Birth: Rome, Lazio, Italy

Date of Birth: 18 June, 1952

Ethnicity:
*father – Italian, small amount of French
*mother – Swedish, German

Isabella Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Her roles include the films White Nights, Blue Velvet, Dark Eyes, Tough Guys Don’t Dance, Cousins (1989), Wild at Heart, Death Becomes Her, Fearless, Wyatt Earp (1994), Immortal Beloved, Big Night, Empire (2002), Roger Dodger, The Saddest Music in the World, Infamous, Two Lovers, Enemy (2013), Joy (2015), Incredibles 2, Vita & Virginia, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Cat Person, La chimera, Spaceman, and Conclave (2024); the made-for-tv movie Crime of the Century (1996); and the shows Friends, Chicago Hope, Alias, 30 Rock, The Blacklist, Julia (2022), and Human Resources, the latter in voice performance. She modeled for Lancôme.

Isabella is the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, who was of half Swedish and half German descent, and of Italian director Roberto Rossellini, who was of mostly Italian, and some French, ancestry. Isabella holds dual Italian and U.S. citizenship. Her fraternal twin sister is Italian literature professor Isotta Ingrid Rossellini. Her paternal half-brother is film producer and left-wing political activist Renzo Rossellini, and her maternal half-sister is television journalist Pia Lindström.

Isabella was raised in Rome and Santa Marinella, in Italy, and Paris, France; among other locations. She moved to New York City, New York, for work when she was nineteen. Isabella has two children, a daughter, food editor and writer Elettra Rossellini Wiedemann, with her former husband, model and Microsoft design manager Jon Wiedemann; and a son, who Isabella adopted.

Isabella’s paternal grandfather was Angiolo Giuseppe “Beppino” Rossellini (the son of Zeffiro/Luigi Rossellini and Giuseppina Benedetti). Zeffiro was from Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, and the surname was spelled as Rosellini.

Isabella’s paternal grandmother was Elettra Bellan (the daughter of Giuseppe Bellan and Amalia del Monte). Giuseppe was from Rovigo, Veneto, and evidently had some French ancestry, from emigrants who had arrived in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Amalia was from Anagni, Province of Frosinone, Lazio.

Isabella’s maternal grandfather was Justus Samuel Bergman (the son of Johan Peter/Petter Bergman and Brita/Britta Sophia/Sofia Samuelsdotter). Justus was Swedish, and was born in Bäckarslöv, Hössjö Bryggaregård, Slätthög, Kronobergs län. Johan was the son of Jonas Månsson and Marta/Martha Jönsdotter/Jönasdotter. Brita was the daughter of Samuel Lorentz Bengtsson and Maria Andersdotter.

Isabella’s maternal grandmother was named Frieda/Friedel Henrietta Adler. Friedel was German, and was born in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein.

A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2019) stated that Isabella’s genetic ancestry is:

*99.6% European
——–*36.8% French and German
——–*22.8% Italian
——–*17.3% Broadly Northern European
——–*11.2% Scandinavian
——–*3.7% Broadly European
——–*3.5% Broadly Southern European
——–*2.7% British and Irish
——–*0.8% Greek and Balkan
——–*0.4% Eastern European
——–*0.3% Spanish and Portuguese
——–*0.1% Ashkenazi Jewish
*0.3% North African/Arabian
*0.1% Sub-Saharan African

Genetically, she was found to have a common ancestor with American actress Scarlett Johansson, likely through shared Swedish ancestry.

Sources: Genealogies of Isabella Rossellini – https://www.geni.com
http://www.wikitree.com

Article about Isabella’s father – https://www.nytimes.com

Obituary of Isabella’s father – https://www.washingtonpost.com