Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1738–1789)
| Archduchess Maria Anna | |
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Portrait of Archduchess Maria Anna by Martin van Meytens
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| Born |
6 October 1738 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 19 November 1789 (aged 51) Klagenfurt, Austria |
| House | Habsburg-Lorraine |
| Father | Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Maria Theresa of Austria |
Archduchess Maria Anna Josepha Antonia of Austria (6 October 1738 – 19 November 1789) was the second child of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. As a child, and for a time the eldest surviving child, she was heiress presumptive, but she suffered from ill health and physical disability, and did not marry. In 1766 she became abbess of the Frauenstift in Prague. Soon thereafter she moved to Klagenfurt and remained there for the rest of her life. Her palace in Klagenfurt, the Mariannengasse, now houses the Episcopal Palace.
Archduchess Maria Anna (known as Marianna) was born on 6 October 1738 at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, the center of the vastly powerful Habsburg Monarchy. As the second but eldest surviving daughter of Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, she was heiress presumptive of the hereditary lands of the Austrian Habsburgs between 1740 and 1741, until her younger brother Joseph (later to be the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II) was born.
Her mother gave her the customary education of the princely courts at that time. Maria Anna's musical talents were highly encouraged, but not her humanities talents. Maria Anna was the child least respected and loved by Maria Theresa—her younger brother Joseph and sisters Maria Elisabeth and Marie Christina always received the attention and care of the Empress: Joseph because he was the male heir, Maria Elisabeth because she was considered the most beautiful of the daughters, and Marie Christine because she was the undisputed favorite child of her mother.
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