Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (28 March 1785 – 27 August 1851) was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a general of cavalry in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Initially remaining a Lutheran until 1818, by marriage he established the Catholic branch of the family, which eventually gained the thrones of Portugal and Bulgaria (1887). When Antonia's father died in 1826, she inherited his estates in Hungary, and Ferdinand took the title of Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry.

Ferdinand and Antonia had four children, all of whom were raised Catholic: Ferdinand II of Portugal (29 October 1816 – 15 December 1885), married Queen Maria II of Portugal on 9 April 1836. They had eleven children. He remarried Elisa Hensler on 10 June 1869. Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (13 June 1818 – 26 July 1881), married Princess Clémentine of Orléans on 21 April 1843. They had five children, including king Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (their youngest child). Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (14 February 1822 – 10 December 1857), married Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours on 27 April 1840. They had four children. Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (31 January 1824 – 20 May 1884), married morganatically Constanze Geiger on 23 April 1861. They had one son.

Death Ferdinand died at Vienna on 27 August 1851 at the age of 66. He is buried in the ducal mausoleum at in Coburg.

Honours and awards He received the following awards:

Ancestry