Beatrix, Countess of Schönburg-Glauchau ('' née '' Countess Beatrix Maria Valeria Thérèse Emerica Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék; 30 January 1930 – 30 September 2021) was a Hungarian-German aristocrat and socialite. By birth a member of the Széchényi family, a Hungarian noble family, she fled Hungary in 1956 during the

Communist Revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stage ...

. After arriving in Germany, she married

Joachim, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau Joachim, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau (German: ''Joachim Heinrich Maria Carl Rudolf Franz Xaver Joseph Antonius Christophorus Hubertus Alfons Graf von Schönburg-Glauchau''; 4 February 1929 – 29 September 1998) was the nominal successor head ...

, the nominal head of the

House of Schönburg-Glauchau A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

, and moved to Africa. She lived in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

and

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, where her husband worked as a journalist, before returning to Germany in 1970. After divorcing her husband in 1986, she moved to

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

to live with her daughter,

Gloria, Princess of Thurn und Taxis Gloria, Dowager Princess of Thurn and Taxis (''Mariae Gloria Ferdinanda Joachima Josephine Wilhelmine Huberta''; born Countess Gloria von Schönburg-Glauchau, 23 February 1960) is a German socialite, businesswoman, Catholic activist, and artist. ...

Biography

Countess Beatrix Maria Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék was born in

Hegykő Hegykő is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to t ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

on 30 January 1930 to Count Bálint Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék and Princess Marie "Maya" Pavlovna

Galitzine The House of Golitsyn or Galitzine was one of the largest princely of the noble houses in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire. Among them were boyars, warlords, diplomats, generals (the Mikhailovichs), stewards, chamberlains, the richest m ...

. She had three older sisters. Beatrix was a great-granddaughter of the Hungarian statesman Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék. Her parents divorced in 1931, a year after her birth. During the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, Beatrix and her family fled to Germany in order to escape the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

regime. In 1957 she married

, a German journalist and head of the Glauchau branch of the comital

Schönburg family The House of Schönburg (also ''Schumburg''; Czech: ''ze Šumburka'') is an old European noble family of princely and historically sovereign rank. It formerly owned large properties in present-day Saxony, Thuringia and Bohemia. As a former ruling a ...

. Her husband's family's castles and estates in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

were seized by the Communist government during the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...

. She and her husband had four children: *

Countess Maya von Schönburg-Glauchau Countess Maria Felicitas von Schönburg-Glauchau (german: Maria Felicitas Alexandra Albertina Assunta Anna Fernanda Beatrix Gräfin von Schönburg-Glauchau; 15 August 1958 – 27 January 2019), also known as Maya von Schönburg, was a German socia ...

(1958–2019) *

(born 1960) * Count Carl Alban von Schönburg-Glauchau (born 1966) *

Alexander, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau Alexander, Count of Schönburg-Glauchau (born August 15, 1969), known professionally as Alexander von Schönburg, is a German journalist and writer. He is, after his older brother Carl's abdication, the current head of the comital branch of the p ...

(born 1969) After her husband accepted a journalist post in Africa, she and her family spent five years living in

and

, returning to Germany in 1970. She and her husband divorced in 1986. After suffering a fall at her apartment, she was taken to the Munich Municipal Clinic and underwent an operation. She was later transferred to the Brothers of Mercy Hospital in Regensburg, where she died on 30 September 2021. Her

requiem mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

took place on 6 November 2021 at the

Kreuzkirche, Munich The Church of All Saints (german: Allerheiligenkirche) also known as Holy Cross Church (german: Kreuzkirche), is a cemetery church in Munich, southern Germany. The church was built in 1478 by Jörg von Halsbach and was the first church with a ...

. The mass was celebrated by Hungarian bishop

János Székely János József Székely (born 13 May 1983) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a right winger. Career Born in Timișoara of Hungarian heritage, he started his football career with local club Politehnica Timișoara, where he played ...

. Music for the ceremony was performed by opera singer Countess

Christine Esterházy Countess Christine Esterházy von Galántha ('' née '' Obermayr; born 30 May 1959) is a German opera singer and mezzo-soprano. She made her professional debut as '' Carmen'' at the Theater Ulm in Baden-Württemberg. Trained by Eduard Wollitz ...

and the Fürstlichen Hofkapelle Thurn und Taxis. She was buried at Nordfriedhof.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatrix, Countess of Schönburg-Glauchau 1930 births 2021 deaths German countesses German socialites Hungarian countesses Hungarian emigrants to Germany Hungarian people of Russian descent Hungarian refugees Hungarian Roman Catholics House of Schönburg-Glauchau People from Győr-Moson-Sopron County People of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Széchenyi family