Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal

Summary

Infanta Maria José of Portugal (Maria José Joana Eulália Leopoldina Adelaide Isabel Carolina Micaela Rafaela Gabriela Francisca de Assis e de Paula Inês Sofia Joaquina Teresa Benedita Bernardina; 19 March 1857 – 11 March 1943), sometimes known in English as Maria Josepha, was a Portuguese infanta, later Duchess in Bavaria by marriage. She was the maternal grandmother of King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Marie-José of Italy.

Infanta Maria José
Duchess Maria José in Bavaria
Born19 March 1857
Schloss Bronnbach
Died11 March 1943(1943-03-11) (aged 85)
Vienna, Austria
Burial
SpouseDuke Karl Theodor in Bavaria
Issue
Names
Portuguese: Maria José Joana Eulália Leopoldina Adelaide Isabel Carolina Micaela Rafaela Gabriela Francisca de Assis e de Paula Inês Sofia Joaquina Teresa Benedita Bernardina
HouseBraganza
FatherMiguel I of Portugal
MotherAdelaide of Löwenstein

Life edit

 
Duchess Maria Josepha in Bavaria, by Joseph Albert, c.1874

Maria José was the fourth child and third daughter of King Miguel I of Portugal and his wife Adelaide of Löwenstein. Among her sisters were Maria Ana, Grand Duchess of Luxemburg and Maria Antónia, Duchess of Parma. Her only brother was Miguel, Duke of Braganza.

On 29 April 1874 she married Duke Karl Theodor in Bavaria, the younger brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

The couple lived in Munich, where they founded the Herzog Carl Theodor Eye Clinic, that still exists today.

Maria José died in Vienna at the age of 85, and is buried in Tegernsee Abbey.

Children edit

Ancestry edit