Princess Leopoldina of Brazil

Princess Leopoldina
Princess Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Duchess in Saxony

Princess Leopoldina around age 17, c.1864
Born (1847-07-13)13 July 1847
Palace of São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil
Died 7 February 1871(1871-02-07) (aged 23)
Palais Coburg, Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Burial St. Augustine's Church, Coburg, Germany
Spouse Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Issue
Detail
Full name
Leopoldina Teresa Francisca Carolina Miguela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga
House Braganza
Father Pedro II of Brazil
Mother Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies
Religion Roman Catholic

Princess Leopoldina of Brazil (later Princess Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; 13 July 1847[1][2] – 7 February 1871[1]) was a member of the Brazilian Imperial Family, the third child and second daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and his consort Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies. By marriage she was Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Duchess in Saxony. After having four sons, she died at the age of 23.

Early life

Leopoldina Teresa Francisca Carolina Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga was born at the Palácio de São Cristóvão ("Palace of St Christopher") in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3] She was the third child and second daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and Empress Teresa Cristina, born a month after the death of her infant brother Afonso, Prince Imperial of Brazil. She was a little less than a year younger than her sister Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil. Styled Her Highness Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, she was baptised at the Imperial Chapel by Bishop Manuel do Monte Rodrigues de Araújo, the Earl of Irajá. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Archduchess Maria Leopoldina Josepha Caroline of Austria.[4]

Marriage and issue

Leopoldina and Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with their eldest son, Prince Pedro Augusto, 1866.

Princess Leopoldina was married on 15 December 1864 to Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony, second son of Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Clémentine of Orléans, in Rio de Janeiro. Ludwig August (in Portuguese, Luís Augusto) and his first cousin, Prince Gaston, comte d'Eu, were sent to Brazil to marry the Emperor's daughters, Isabel and Leopoldina.[5] The original arrangement was for Gaston to marry Leopoldina and Ludwig August to marry Isabel, but the sisters decided otherwise and their father agreed to their wishes, having himself experienced the unhappinesses of an arranged dynastic marriage. Ludwig August and Leopoldina married two months after the wedding of Isabel and Gaston.[5] She was thus styled Princess Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She became a sister-in-law of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.

They had four sons:

  1. Peter August Ludwig Maria Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga (Rio de Janeiro, 19 May 1866 – Vienna, 6 July 1934); successor of his father in 1907. Peter died unmarried and was succeeded by his nephew Rainer.
  2. August Leopold Philipp Maria Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga (Rio de Janeiro, 6 December 1867 – Schladming, 11 October 1922).
  3. Joseph Ferdinand Maria Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga (Petrópolis, 21 May 1869 – Vienna, 13 August 1888).
  4. Ludwig Gaston Klemens Maria Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga (Ebenthal, 15 September 1870 – Innsbruck, 23 January 1942); married Princess Mathilde of Bavaria.

Leopoldina died from typhoid fever in Vienna on 7 February 1871, aged 23.[6]

Ancestry

References

  1. 1 2 Barata, Mário; Barata, Cau. "Maracanã – Palácio Leopoldina – Zona Norte – Terra Fotolog" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  2. ↑ Princesa Isabel (Página 3) | História do Brasil, História Princesa Isabel (Página 3) (Portuguese)
  3. ↑ Bragança, Carlos Tasso de Saxe-Coburgo e (1959). "A Princesa Leopoldina". Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro (in Portuguese) (Rio de Janeiro: IHGB) 243: 70–93. ISSN 0101-4366.
  4. ↑ Bragança (1959), pp. 77-78.
  5. 1 2 Bragança (1959), pp. 74-75.
  6. ↑ Del Priore, Mary (2007). O Príncipe Maldito (in Portuguese) (1st. ed.). Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva. pp. 51–52. ISBN 857302867X.

External links

Media related to Princess Leopoldina at Wikimedia Commons

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