Profile Text
Birth Name: Silvija Košćina
Date of Birth: 22 August, 1933
Place of Birth: Zagreb, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Croatia)
Date of Death: 26 December, 1994
Place of Death: Rome, Lazio, Italy
Ethnicity: Croatian, likely small amount of Italian
Sylva Koscina, also known as Sylvia Koscina, was a Yugoslav-Italian actress. She was known for playing the female lead in the films Hercules (1959) and Hercules Unchained . Her films also included The Mighty Crusaders , Toto in Paris , Siege of Syracuse , Trapped by Fear , Swordsman of Siena , Hot Enough for June , Let’s Talk About Women , That Man in Istanbul , Thrilling , Juliet of the Spirits , Johnny Banco , The Secret War of Harry Frigg , A Lovely Way to Die , The Protagonists (1968), Marquis de Sade: Justine , The Italian Connection , My Pleasure Is Your Pleasure , and Lisa and the Devil .
She was the daughter of Valerija Maljković and Ing. Ivan Košćina. Her parents were from Split. During WWII, her family moved to Italy. She considered herself Yugoslav. It has been said that Sylva was the daughter of a Greek father and a Polish mother. This is not accurate.
Sylva’s paternal grandfather was Ante/Antonio Benedetto Košćina/Coschina (the son of Ivan/Giovanni Košćina/Coschina and Nikolina/Nicolina Sbisa). Ante was born in Borgo Grande-Veli Varoš, Split. Ivan was the son of Josip/Gisueppe Košćina/Coschina and Ana/Anna Šore. Nikolina was the daughter of Jakov/Giacomo Sbisà and Andrijana/Andreanna Barkojević/Barcoevich-Pešnjardo.
Sylva’s paternal grandmother was named Marijeta/Marietta Bilinić/Bilinich. Marijeta was born in Borgo Lučac, Split.
Source: Genealogy of Sylva Koscina (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com