Maria Antonia | |||||
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Grand Duchess of Tuscany | |||||
Tenure | 7 June 1833 – 21 July 1859 | ||||
Born |
Royal Palace of Palermo, Italy |
19 December 1814||||
Died | 7 November 1898 Gmunden |
(aged 83)||||
Spouse | Leopold II | ||||
Issue |
Maria Isabella, Countess of Trapani Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany Archduke Karl Salvator Maria Luisa, Princess of Isenburg Archduke John Salvator |
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House | Bourbon-Two Sicilies | ||||
Father | Francis I of the Two Sicilies | ||||
Mother | Maria Isabella of Spain | ||||
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Full name | |
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Maria Antonia Anna |
Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies (Maria Antonia Anna; 19 December 1814 – 7 November 1898) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1833 to 1859 as the consort of Leopold II. As other women of her family, she was always called Maria Antonietta, a more common and graceful form of Maria Antonia, and she always signed with this name.
Maria Antonia was born at the Royal Palace of Palermo on 19 December 1814, daughter of Francis I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain, she was baptised Maria Antonia in honor of Maria Antonia-Anna's great-aunt Marie Antoinette, deceased sister of her grandmother Maria Carolina of Austria.
When she was born, the Neapolitan court had already moved to Sicily because Napoleonic troops have invaded the Continental part of the Reign. After few months the Royal Family could return to Naples thanks to the Congress of Vienna.
She was particularly close to her brother the future Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies who affectionately dubbed her Totò. She was also close to her sister in law, Maria Christina of Savoy who came to the court in 1832.
In 1833, when she was eighteen, Maria Antonia married Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who was seventeen years older. They were first cousins because Francis I, Maria Antonia's father, and Princess Luisa of Naples, Leopold's mother, were both children of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and Maria Carolina of Austria. Marie Antoinette and Leopold had ten children: