Silva certainly didn’t spend her entire childhood in Spain. She gained many of her qualifications through a school in Dorset in the United Kingdom but then went on to study marketing and advertising in her native country.
But there’s much more to this woman than business acumen – she’s also put her talents to use creating good things for the world as an activist. She’s applied herself to several different causes and maintains that work to this day.
A Practicing Buddhist
This movie star took the seldom walked path of changing religious beliefs from Methodist to Tibetan Buddhism. Starting in his twenties, Gere became interested in the religion when he met a few monks.
As we already know, he would eventually meet with the Dalai Lama – by then, Gere had been a practicing Buddhist for decades. He's now become an activist on behalf of Tibet, which means he's banned from ever entering China.
Alejandra Silva
Alejandra Silva was born in the Spanish region of Galicia. Still, she grew up in Madrid, where her father, Ignacio, had the high-powered position of vice president to the world-famous soccer club Real Madrid.
Silva had done plenty to make herself known in the business world even without her family's help, not only working as a hotel manager in Italy when she and Richard met, but she also worked as a sales and marketer for an aviation company.
The Beautiful Life Fund
Silva has a strong belief in doing right by people and by the world. She's found (and founded) numerous worthy causes to promote. In 2007 she joined the Czech model and actress Karolina Kurkova, getting involved with the Beautiful Life Fund, which provides for the welfare of children.
A few years after that, she worked with Real Madrid's African Initiative Project, which organizes soccer competitions to help disadvantaged children integrate into communities. Her skills as a marketer and businesswoman helped both organizations grow.
Her Past Loves
Like her current husband, Silva has had more than one shot at love. In 2012 Silva married Govind Friedland, who had made his way to millions as a mining magnate.
It was only thanks to Friedland that Silva ended up in possession of the Hotel Villa Treville in Positano, on the Amalfi Coast of southern Italy. While working as the manager, Silva eventually had her vital run-in with Gere, leading her down yet another unexpected life path.