Archduke Rudolf of Austria

Archduke Rudolf of Austria (5 September 1919 – 15 May 2010) 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 former Austrian Imperial family were staying after they had been sent into exile. He was named after Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria.

Educated with his siblings first in Spain, in Belgium and at the Université Laval in Quebec City, but Rudolf was expelled in 1946 once his membership in the formerly imperial House of Habsburg was exposed due to rumors of him and his brother being part of Austrian resistance. After the war he travelled to the United States, Canada and the Belgian Congo. and a bank director.

First marriage Rudolf was married by Archbishop Fulton Sheen to Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov the daughter of Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Chernyshyev-Besobrasov and his wife, Countess Elizabeta Dmitrievna Sheremeteva, on 22 June 1953 at Tuxedo Park, New York.

Maria-Anna Galitzine (b. 1954) married Prince Peter Galitzine (b. 1955); Johannes Karl von Habsburg (11 December 1962 – 29 June 1975)

Second marriage

Rudolf was married secondly to Princess Anna Gabriele von Wrede (11 September 1940), daughter of Prince Carl Josef Maria von Wrede (1899–1945) and his wife, Countess Sophie Schaffgotsch-Semperfrei von und zu Kynast und Greiffenstein (1916–2008) on 15 October 1971 in Ellingen, Bavaria. They have one daughter:

Catharina-Maria Johanna Zita Sophie Kaspara of Habsburg (14 September 1972) married Massimiliano Secco d'Aragona (b. 1967) on 9 December 1998. They have three sons.

Death Rudolph died on 15 May 2010. He was survived by two older brothers; Otto and Felix.

Arms

Ancestry