Elias was born at Biarritz, the youngest son of the deposed Duke Robert I of Parma and his first wife Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies).

Despite the loss of the throne, his father Robert enjoyed considerable wealth. They owned castles at Schwarzau am Steinfeld near Vienna in Austria, Villa Pianore, between Pietrasanta and Viareggio in Italy, and the magnificent Château de Chambord in France (up until its confiscation in World War I).

On 25 May 1903 at Vienna, Elias married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1882–1940), daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, and a niece of Queen Maria Cristina of Spain. Elias and Maria Anna had eight children, though only one of them married and had issue:

• Princess Elisabetta of Bourbon-Parma (17 March 1904 – 13 June 1983); she died unmarried.
• Prince Carlo Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (22 September 1905 – 26 September 1912); he died of poliomyelitis.
• Princess Maria Francesca of Bourbon-Parma (5 September 1906 – 20 February 1994); she died unmarried.
• Robert Hugo, Duke of Parma (7 August 1909 – 15 November 1974); he died unmarried.
• Prince Francesco Alfonso of Bourbon-Parma (14 June 1913 – 29 May 1939); he died unmarried.
• Princess Giovanna Isabella of Bourbon-Parma (8 July 1916 – 1 November 1949); she never married and was killed in a shooting accident in La Toledana, Spain.
• Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Parma (13 November 1917 – 28 March 2017); she married Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, and had issue.
• Princess Maria Christina of Bourbon-Parma (7 June 1925 – 1 September 2009); she died unmarried.

Through his fourth daughter, Princess Alicia, he is great-grandfather of Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria, one of two claimants to the throne of the Two Sicilies.

In 1907 Elias' father Robert died and was succeeded in his ducal claims of Parma by his son Enrico who was mentally disabled. Less than four months later the Grand Marshal of the Austrian court declared Enrico and five of his siblings legally incompetent. Elias became regent for Enrico's claims and guardian for his disabled siblings.

In 1907 Elias was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece by the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

In 1910 Elias came to an agreement with his half-siblings, his father's children by his second wife, about the division of their father's estate. Elias was to have half of the estate in order to support his rank as head of the family; this half included the château de Chambord.

In 1915 Chambord was sequestered by the French government as alien property, since Elias held a commission in the Austro-Hungarian Army.^[2] Liquidation proceedings were started in 1919 in application of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which gave the Allies the right to keep such property. Elias' half-brothers, Sixtus and Xavier took Elias to court to obtain a greater share of their father's estate. They claimed that the 1910 family agreement violated the French law which mandated equal division between siblings. In 1925 the French courts determined that Sixtus and Xavier should have a larger share, but in 1928 this judgement was overturned on appeal. In 1932 the court of cassation upheld the appeal on the grounds that there was a valid agreement between the siblings to an unequal division. Elias' rights to the château de Chambord were thereby recognised - but the wartime confiscation was upheld and Elias was financially compensated with 11 million francs.

In 1939 Enrico died and was succeeded in his ducal claims of Parma by his brother Giuseppe who also was mentally disabled. Elias continued to act as regent.

In 1950 Giuseppe died and Elias succeeded as pretender of Parma.

Elias died at Friedberg, Styria in 1959. He and his wife are buried in the nearby village of Mönichkirchen.