Maria-Anna Galitzine (''Maria-Anna Charlotte Zita Elisabeth Regina Therese''; born 19 May 1954), also known as Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria and Princess Maria-Anna Galitzine, is a Belgian

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...

activist and member 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 ...

. A granddaughter of

Charles I of Austria Charles I (, ; 17 August 1887 – 1 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV), and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from November 1916 until the monarchy was abolished in November 1918. He was the ...

and

Zita of Bourbon-Parma Zita of Bourbon-Parma (Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese; 9 May 1892 – 14 March 1989) was the wife of Charles I, the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. She was also the last Empress o ...

, the last emperor and empress of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, she has been active in supporting their cause for sainthood in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Early life, family, and education

Maria-Anna was born in exile in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

on 19 May 1954 to

Archduke Rudolf of Austria Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainier, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olomouc (8 January 1788 – 24 July 1831), was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () origin ...

and Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov. A member of the exiled Austrian imperial family, her father was the youngest son of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and

Zita Zita (27 April 1272), also known as Sitha or Citha, is an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and Domestic worker, domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost Key (lock), keys. Zita entered domestic service a ...

, the last emperor and empress of Austria and king and queen of Hungary. Her mother was a member of the

Russian nobility The Russian nobility or ''dvoryanstvo'' () arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000. Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed ...

and a descendant of the

Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev () was one of the wealthiest and most influential Russian noble families, descending from Feodor Koshka. History The family held many high commanding ranks in the Russian military, governorships and eventually the ra ...

family.de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery. Paris. 2002. pp. 175, 196-197 (French) Maria-Anna was raised in a religious family and was baptized in the Catholic faith. Her mother died in a car accident in 1968. Her father married a second time, to Princess Anna Gabriele von Wrede, in 1971. Maria-Anna is a sister of Simeon von Habsburg.

Almanach de Gotha The ''Almanach de Gotha'' () is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published in 1763 by C. W. Ettinger in ...

(2018), 'Austria', Pages 42-86 She was educated in Brussels and studied economics, politics, and sociology at

Université catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

. After graduating, she worked at a financial fund in Belgium and, later, at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York City.

Activism

In 1993, Maria-Anna and her family moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. While there, she served on the board of a children's school, organized an annual charity dinner for local medical institutions for children in need, and worked on repairing churches in Russian villages. Maria-Anna has played an active role in the campaign for sainthood of her grandparents. Her grandfather, Charles I, was

Beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 2004, and is known in the Catholic Church as Blessed Karl of Austria. Her grandmother, Zita, was named a

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

in 2009. After moving to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 2008, Maria-Anna became a parishioner at St. John Cantius Church. Father Frank Phillips, the pastor of St. John Cantius Church, built a shrine in honor of Maria-Anna's family in the church's Chapel of Dormition. The shrine is dedicated to her grandparents and an ancestor of her husband, Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, who is also venerated in the Catholic faith. She was a guest at a formal banquet hosted by the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius at the University Club of Chicago, and promoted the religious community's efforts to maintain traditional liturgical forms. In July 2011, she served on the VIP Host Committee of the Moscow Demographic Summit, an event sponsored by the

World Congress of Families The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international conference that promotes Christian right values internationally. The WCF is the main event of the International Organization for the Family and focuses on issues like opposition to divorce, ...

focusing on promoting traditional marriage, increasing birthrates, ending abortion, ending the death penalty, and advocating for family rights around the world. In 2015, she attended the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

's exhibit ''“Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections.'' In October of the same year, she attended a

solemn mass Solemn Mass () is the full ceremonial form of a Mass, predominantly associated with the Tridentine Mass where it is celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of incense. ...

and was a guest speaker at a reception for the feast day of her grandfather at St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In October 2018, Maria-Anna was a guest of honor at a three-day symposium held in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, hosted by the Emperor Karl League of Prayer and the

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians. It is in communion with the Holy See. It was founded in 1988 by 12 former members of the Society of Saint Pius ...

, in honor of her grandfather's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

. The symposium, attended by over five-hundred people, was held in order to bring awareness to the cause for sainthood of Charles I. Maria-Anna gave talks about her family at the public library in

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

and at Mater Dei Catholic Church as part of the symposium. The symposium concluded with a Solemn Mass including the veneration and blessing of a first-class relic of Charles I. Maria-Anna remains an active member and leader in the Blessed Karl League of Prayer. In 2019, she gave an interview during the ''Symposium on Blessed Karl von Habsburg, The Last Emperor & King of Austria-Hungary''. On 8 November 2020, Maria-Anna and Suzanne Pearson gave a lecture, as part of the Cardinal Mindszenty Speaker Series, called ''The Saintly Life of Blessed Karl of Austria-Hungary'', at St. Mary of Victories Church in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

Personal life

Maria-Anna married Prince Piotr Dmitrijevitch Galitzine, a

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

aristocrat, businessman, and member of the

House of Golitsyn The House of Golitsyn (, ) is the second largest and noblest Princely house in Russia.Jean-Marie Thiébaud , A great princely family of Russia, the Galitzines. Genealogy and historical notes , Paris, 1997. Among its members were warlords, lan ...

, on 24 November 1981 in a civil ceremony in

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre ( French, ) or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambe ...

. They had a Catholic ceremony on 25 November 1981 in

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

.''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XV. "Haus Österreich". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp. 87, 97. (German) . Maria-Anna and her husband had six children: * Princess Xenia Petrovna Galitzine (b. 23 May 1983) * Princess Tatiana Petrovna Galitzine (b. 16 August 1984) * Princess Alexandra Petrovna Galitzine (b. 7 August 1986) * Princess Maria Petrovna Galitzine (11 May 1988 – 4 May 2020) * Prince Dimitri Petrovich Galitzine (b. 11 June 1990) * Prince Ioann Teimouraz Petrovich Galitzine (b. 27 May 1992) Exiled from Austria in the earlier years of their marriage, due to the

Habsburg Law The Habsburg Law (''Habsburgergesetz'' (in full, the Law concerning the Expulsion and the Takeover of the Assets of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine) ''Gesetz vom 3. April 1919 betreffend die Landesverweisung und die Übernahme des Vermögens des ...

, Maria-Anna and her family lived in Belgium, Luxembourg, Russia, and the United States. On 16 July 2011, the family attended the funeral and burial of Maria-Anna's uncle and the last crown prince of Austria,

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (, ; 20 November 1912 4 July 2011) was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in November 1918. In 1922, he became the pretender to the former thrones, head of the House of Habs ...

, in Vienna. Her daughter, Princess Maria, died in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galitzine, Maria-Anna Living people 1954 births 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Austrian princesses Belgian people of Austrian descent Belgian people of Italian descent Belgian people of Portuguese descent Belgian people of Russian descent Belgian traditionalist Catholics Exiled royalty Maria-Anna Maria-Anna Nobility from Brussels Roman Catholic activists Russian princesses by marriage Université catholique de Louvain alumni