by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2013
Maria Anna of Savoy, Empress of Austria, Credit – Wikipedia
Maria Anna of Savoy and her twin sister Maria Teresa were born on September 19, 1803, at the Palazzo Colonna in Rome, Papal States, now in Italy, the daughters of Vittorio Emanuele I, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este. Maria Anna spent part of her childhood on the island of Sardinia, which was the only part of her father’s lands that had not been conquered by Napoleon. In 1814, her father’s conquered land was restored and the family returned to Turin.
Maria Anna had six siblings:
- Maria Beatrice of Savoy (1792 – 1840), married Francesco IV, Duke of Modena, had issue
- Maria Adelaide of Savoy (1794 – 1802) died in childhood
- Carlo Emanuele of Savoy (1796 – 1799), died in childhood of smallpox
- A daughter (1800 – 1801) died in infancy
- Maria Teresa of Savoy (1803 – 1879), twin of Maria Anna, married Carlo II Ludovico, Duke of Parma, had two children
- Maria Cristina of Savoy (1812 – 1836), married Ferdinando II, King of the Two Sicilies, had one son, died due to childbirth complications, in 2014 she was beatified by Pope Francis and is known as Blessed Maria Cristina of Savoy
Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and his family; Credit – Wikipedia
In February 1831, Maria Anna married Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria. The marriage was childless and probably never consummated, but the couple remained devoted to each other. Emperor Ferdinand suffered from a number of ailments including epilepsy and hydrocephalus. He was considered incapable of ruling although he kept a coherent diary. His father’s will stipulated that Ferdinand’s uncle Archduke Ludwig be consulted on government matters and during Ferdinand’s reign a council called the Secret State Conference controlled the government. Ferdinand is famous for telling his cook, “I am the Emperor and I want dumplings” when the cook told him that the apricots needed for the traditional apricot dumplings (German: Marillenknödel) were not in season.
Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria; Credit – Wikipedia
Ferdinand abdicated the throne in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph during the Revolutions of 1848 and lived out the rest of his life at Hradčany Palace in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. He died on June 29, 1875, at the age of 82, and was buried in the Ferdinandsgruft (Ferdinand’s Vault) in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. Maria Anna survived her husband by nine years and died at the age of 80 on May 4, 1884, in Prague, now in the Czech Republic, which was then part of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Empress Maria Anna was buried next to her husband in the Imperial Crypt.
Tomb of Maria Anna of Savoy; Photo Credit – www.findagrave.com
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