Maria-Pia Liechtenstein

Princess Maria-Pia of Liechtenstein (Maria-Pia Ludovika Ulrika Elisabeth Paschaline Katharina Ignazia Lucia Johanna Josefa; born 6 August 1960), also known as Maria-Pia Kothbauer, is Liechtensteiner diplomat and a member of the Princely family of Liechtenstein. She serves as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Liechtenstein to Austria and the Czech Republic, formerly also to Belgium and the European Union. She also serves as Liechtenstein's Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and to the United Nations.

Personal life Born in Vienna, Princess Maria-Pia is the fifth child and second daughter of Prince Karl Alfred of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Agnes Christina of Austria. A member of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, she is a first cousin of the present monarch, Prince Hans-Adam II. Her paternal grandparents were Prince Alois of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Elisabeth Amalie of Austria. Her maternal grandparents were Archduke Hubert Salvator of Austria and Princess Rosemary of Salm-Salm. On 4 August 1995, she married Max Kothbauer, then vice president of Creditanstalt-Bankverein and later vice president of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB). The couple's only child, a son named Hieronymus, was born on 26 January 1997.

Education and career

Princess Maria-Pia graduated from the Schule der Dominikanerinnen, run by Dominican nuns, in Vienna in 1978. She then enrolled in Columbia University, attaining the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science.

In August 1996, she became Permanent Representative of the Principality of Liechtenstein in Vienna, as well as Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), where she is the longest-serving ambassador. In December next year, Liechtenstein assumed the office of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Liechtenstein to Austria. Since July 2000, she has served as Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the United Nations.

Liechtenstein speaks German, English and French, and has basic knowledge of Spanish.

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