Archduchess Mechthildis of Austria (11 October 1891 – 6 February 1966) was a daughter of

Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria Archduke Charles Stephen Eugene Viktor Felix Maria of Austria (, ; 5 September 1860 – 7 April 1933) was a member of the House of Habsburg, a Grand Admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and candidate for the Kingdom of Poland (1916-1918), Polish ...

and a first cousin of King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

of Spain. She was a member of the Teschen branch of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

and an Archduchess of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and Princess of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

by birth. In 1913 she married Prince Olgierd Czartoryski. The couple had four children and lived in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when they emigrated to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Background and early life

Archduchess Mechthildis was a daughter of

and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, Princess of Tuscany. Both of her parents were closely related to Emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

. Mechthildis’s father was a grandson of

Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the younger brother of ...

who had led the Austrian army against

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Her father was a brother of Queen Maria Christina of Spain. Mechthildis’s mother, Archduchess

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

, Princess of Tuscany was a granddaughter of Leopold II, the last reigning Grand Duke of Tuscany. On her mother's side, she was a great-granddaughter of King

Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand II (; ; ; 12 January 1810 – 22 May 1859) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1830 until his death in 1859. Family Ferdinand was born in Palermo to King Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his second wife Maria Isabella of Spain. ...

. Archduchess Mechthildis was educated by private tutors, special emphasis was placed on languages. She learned German, Italian, English, French, and from 1895, Polish. Her father had followed a career in the Austrian Navy and Mechthildis spent her formative years primarily in

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

in the then-Austrian port of

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

in the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. Her father was very wealthy and the family had a winter residence in the island of Losinj in the Adriatic, and a palace in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1895 her father inherited vast properties in Galicia from Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen. From 1907 the family's main residence was in Saybusch Castle in western Galicia.

Marriage

Archduchess Mechthildis of Austria and her husband

Archduke Charles Stephen put aside his career in the navy and centered his ambitions in creating a Polish branch of the house of Habsburg. He encouraged all of his children to become Polish and Archduchess Mechtildis, like her sister Archduchess Renata, married a Polish Prince, Olgierd Czartoryski, in 1913. The marriage took place on 11 January 1913 at Saybusch Castle, two days after her eldest sister Archduchess Eleonora married Alfons von Kloss. Mechtildis had to renounce all of her titles, along with the style of ''

Imperial and Royal Highness Imperial and Royal Highness (abbreviation HI&RH) is a style possessed by someone who either through birth or marriage holds two individual styles, '' Imperial Highness'' and ''Royal Highness''. ''His/Her Imperial Highness'' is a style used by membe ...

'', since Prince Olgierd Czartoryski did not belong to a royal family. The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters, and lived on a

Czartoryski The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; ) is a Princely Houses of Poland, Polish princely family of Lithuanian-Ruthenians, Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia (political party), Familia. The family, whic ...

estate in Poland. At the outbreak of

they fled to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and stayed initially at Petropolis with members of the Brazilian imperial family, the Orléans-Braganza. Prince Olgierd was for many years the Ambassador of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Archducess Mechthildis died on 6 February 1966 in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, her husband eleven years later. They have descendants in Brazil and in Europe.

Children

Archduchess Mechthildis and her husband Prince Olgierd Czartoryski (1888–1977) had four children: * Prince Constantine Czartoryski (9 December 1913 – 31 August 1989); married Countess Karolina Plater-Zyberk * Princess Cecylia Czartoryska (9 April 1915 – 19 April 2011); married Count Jerzy Rostworowski. * Princess Izabella Czartoryska (8 August 1917 – 2015); married Count Raphael Bninski. * Prince Alexander Czartoryski (21 October 1919 – 2007)

Ancestry

References

* McIntosh David, ''The Unknown Habsburgs'', Rovall Royal Books, 2000. * Snyder, Timothy, ''The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of A Habsburg Archduke'' . Basic Books, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mechthildis Of Austria, Archduchess 1891 births 1966 deaths House of Habsburg-Lorraine Austrian princesses Czartoryski family