Archduke Rudolf of Austria (1919–2010)

Archduke Rudolf
Archduke and Prince Rudolf of Austria
Prince Rudolf of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia
Born (1919-09-05)5 September 1919
Prangins, Switzerland
Died 15 May 2010(2010-05-15) (aged 90)
Brussels, Belgium
Spouse Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov (1953–1968; her death)
Princess Anna Gabriele of Wrede (1971–2010; his death)
Issue Archduchess Maria Anna
Archduke Karl Peter
Archduke Simeon
Archduke Johannes Karl
Archduchess Catharina-Maria
Full name
Rudolf Syringus Peter Karl Franz Joseph Robert Otto Antonius Maria Pius Benedikt Ignatius Laurentius Justiniani Marcus d'Aviano
House House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father Charles I of Austria
Mother Zita of Bourbon-Parma

Archduke Rudolf of Austria (5 September 1919 – 15 May 2010[1]) was the sixth child and youngest son of Emperor Charles I of Austria and Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

Early life

He was born in Prangins, Switzerland, where the Austrian Imperial family were staying after they had been sent into exile. He was named after Count Rudolph IV of Habsburg.[2]

Educated with his siblings first in Spain then in Belgium, in 1944 he and his brother Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria secretly entered Austria to join the Austrian resistance, but Rudolf was expelled in 1946 once his membership in the formerly imperial House of Habsburg was exposed.[3] After the war he travelled to the United States, Canada and the Belgian Congo.[3]

Rudolf worked as a Wall Street junior executive[4] and a bank director.[3][5]

Marriage and issue

Archduke Rudolf was married by Archbishop Fulton Sheen to Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov the daughter of Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Chernyshev-Besobrasov and Countess Elizabeta Cheremeteva, on 22 June 1953 at Tuxedo Park, New York.[5] They had four children. Xenia was killed in a car crash on 20 September 1968, in which Rudolf was also seriously injured.[6]

Rudolf was married secondly to Princess Anna Gabriele von Wrede (b. 1940) on 15 October 1971 in Ellingen, Bavaria.[3] They have one daughter.[3]

Rudolph was survived by two older brothers; Otto and Felix.

Ancestry[3][5]

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (2003). Uncrowned Emperor. Hambledon Continuum. p. 54. ISBN 1-85285-439-1.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha’’. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery, Paris 2002, p. 172-174, 196-198 (French) ISBN 2-9507974-3-1
  4. ↑ "Milestones". Time Magazine. 1953-07-06. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XV. "Haus Österreich". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp. 87, 97. (German) ISBN 3-7980-0814-0.
  6. ↑ "Archduchess Xenia of Habsburg killed". New York Times. 1968-09-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.