All you need to know about America future First Lady, Melania Trump

Melania Trump was raised in home built by her father in a communist state. She was brought up in a sleepy, industrial town of Sevnica, SloveniaHer father Viktor was a Communist Party member under Yugoslav dictatorSchool friends remember her as a studious girl who preferred her books

She's set to become America's First Lady, with a life cossetted in the extravagant luxury afforded only to the super-rich.

And although Melania Trump's existence today as the wife of a billionaire is far removed from her childhood in a communist state, it is the fulfilment of the dreams that she nurtured living in her own white house as a 16-year-old.

The childhood of young Melania Knavs in the sleepy industrial town of Sevnica – now part of Slovenia – in the 1970s and 80s was unlike that of any previous First Lady

The childhood of young Melania Knavs in the sleepy industrial town of Sevnica – now part of Slovenia – in the 1970s and 80s was unlike that of any previous First Lady.

Her father Viktor was a Communist Party member under Yugoslav dictator Marshal Tito, and as Melania grew up the family lived in a string of modest apartments.

But Viktor also displayed the capitalist ambitions which rubbed off on the daughter who would one day complete her extraordinary journey by taking up residence in Washington as the President's wife.

A car parts salesman, Viktor drove a Mercedes, and by the time young Melania was 16 he had built the house in the small town of Sevnica – population 4,500 – as a weekend retreat for the family. The property is on the banks of the River Sava.

Meanwhile, Melania's mother Amalija worked as an executive in a textile factory. She would come back from business trips to Milan and Paris with tales that would inspire her daughter to make her name in international fashion – first as a designer before embarking on the modelling career that would lead to her meeting Donald Trump.

School friends remember Melania as a studious girl who preferred her books to playing – a long way from the woman who would pose for photos in a magazine wearing the skimpiest outfits aboard 'Trump Force One' – her husband's customised Boeing 727 (which he has since upgraded to a 757).

Her childhood neighbour and friend Mirjana Jelancic, 45, who is now the headteacher at the primary school in Slovenia which they both attended, said: 'She loved everything to do with art and design. She would renovate old things to make them like new, such as old baskets. Her family put them in the living room with flowers in.'

Ms Jelancic said that Melania, now 46, often showed off her diplomatic skills by acting as a mediator during playground disputes. She said: 'She had a strong personality. She would not be the first with an opinion, but she was intelligent and wise. She grew up in a society when there was not so much freedom. She knew that there was a bigger world out there because her mother had gone to fashion shows as part of her work.

'She wanted something more from life, but she never told me that she wanted to be a model. She liked knitting and making clothes.

Last week, her half-brother Denis Cigelnjak, 51, who lives in the former mining town of Hrastnik, 15 miles from Sevnica, said he hoped one day to meet Melania.

Denis was born after Melania's father had a brief relationship before his marriage. Court papers show that Viktor Knavs denied being the father of Marija Cigelnjak's baby, but his paternity was proved by blood tests.

Viktor has never met his son. Denis now works in an electrical tools shop and lives with partner Maja and their daughter Mimi, eight, in a grey apartment block. He said: 'I wish them well. I think she will make a good First Lady.' He said that one day he might meet Melania, adding: 'Maybe some day, somehow. I really want to see them.'