Maria-Anna Galitzine (''Maria-Anna Charlotte Zita Elisabeth Regina Therese''; born 19 May 1954), also known as Archduchess Maria-Anna of Austria and Princess Maria-Anna Galitzine, is a Belgian

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, Christian liturgy, liturgical forms, Catholic devotions, devotions, and presentations of Catholic Church, Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church befo ...

activist and member of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa, Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively List ...

. A granddaughter of

Charles I of Austria Charles I or Karl I (german: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria, hu, Károly Ferenc József Lajos Hubert György Ottó Mária; 17 August 18871 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV, ), King of Croatia, ...

and

Zita of Bourbon-Parma Zita of Bourbon-Parma (''Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese''; 9 May 1892 – 14 March 1989) was the wife of Charles I of Austria, Charles, the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. As such, sh ...

, the last emperor and empress of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, she has been active in supporting their cause for sainthood in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Early life, family, and education

Maria-Anna was born in exile in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

on 19 May 1954 to

Archduke Rudolf of Austria Rudolph Johann Joseph Rainier, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olomouc (8 January 1788 – 24 July 1831), was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and an Austrian clergyman and noble. He was ...

and Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov. A member of the exiled Austrian imperial family, her father was the youngest son of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and

Zita Zita (c. 1212 – 27 April 1272; also known as Sitha or Citha) is an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost keys. She is often confused with St. Osyth or Ositha, ...

, the last emperor and empress of Austria and king and queen of Hungary. Her mother was a member of the

Russian nobility The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire. Up until the February Revolution ...

and a descendant of the

Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev (russian: Шереме́тевы) was one of the wealthiest and most influential noble families in Russia descending from Feodor Koshka who was of Old Prussian origin. History The family held many high commanding ran ...

family.de Badts de Cugnac, Chantal. Coutant de Saisseval, Guy. Le Petit Gotha. Nouvelle Imprimerie Laballery. Paris. 2002. pp. 175, 196-197 (French) Maria-Anna was raised in a religious family and was baptized in the Catholic faith. Her mother died in a car accident in 1968. Her father married a second time, to Princess Anna Gabriele von Wrede, in 1971. Maria-Anna is a sister of

Simeon von Habsburg Simeon Carl Eugen Joseph Leopold von Habsburg (born 29 June 1958 in Katana, South Kivu, Belgian Congo),Almanach de Gotha (2018), 'Austria', Pages 42-86 also called Simeon Habsburg-Lothringen and Archduke Simeon of Austria, is an Austrian banker, ...

Almanach de Gotha The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

(2018), 'Austria', Pages 42-86 She was educated in Brussels and studied economics, politics, and sociology at

Université catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

. After graduating, she worked at a financial fund in Belgium and, later, at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York City.

Activism

In 1993, Maria-Anna and her family moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. While there, she served on the board of a children's school, organized an annual charity dinner for local medical institutions for children in need, and worked on repairing churches in Russian villages. Maria-Anna has played an active role in the campaign for sainthood of her grandparents. Her grandfather, Charles I, was

Beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in 2004, and is known in the Catholic Church as Blessed Karl of Austria. Her grandmother, Zita, was named a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

in 2009. After moving to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 2008, Maria-Anna became a parishioner at St. John Cantius Church. Father Frank Phillips, the pastor of St. John Cantius Church, built a shrine in honor of Maria-Anna's family in the church's Chapel of Dormition. The shrine is dedicated to her grandparents and an ancestor of her husband, Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, who is also venerated in the Catholic faith. She was a guest at a formal banquet hosted by the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius at the University Club of Chicago, and promoted the religious community's efforts to maintain traditional liturgical forms. In July 2011, she served on the VIP Host Committee of the Moscow Demographic Summit, an event sponsored by the

World Congress of Families The World Congress of Families (WCF) is a United States coalition that promotes Christian right values internationally. It opposes same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, while supporting a society built on "the voluntary union of a man and ...

focusing on promoting traditional marriage, increasing birthrates, ending abortion, ending the death penalty, and advocating for family rights around the world. In 2015, she attended the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

's exhibit ''“Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections.'' In October of the same year, she attended a

solemn mass Solemn Mass ( la, missa solemnis) is the full ceremonial form of a Mass, predominantly associated with the Tridentine Mass where it is celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon,"The essence of high Mass is not the music but the deacon ...

and was a guest speaker at a reception for the feast day of her grandfather at St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In October 2018, Maria-Anna was a guest of honor at a three-day symposium held in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, hosted by the Emperor Karl League of Prayer and the

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is in communion with the Holy See. The society was founded in 19 ...

, in honor of her grandfather's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

. The symposium, attended by over five-hundred people, was held in order to bring awareness to the cause for sainthood of Charles I. Maria-Anna gave talks about her family at the public library in

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

and at Mater Dei Catholic Church as part of the symposium. The symposium concluded with a Solemn Mass including the veneration and blessing of a first-class relic of Charles I. Maria-Anna remains an active member and leader in the Blessed Karl League of Prayer. In 2019, she gave an interview during the ''Symposium on Blessed Karl von Habsburg, The Last Emperor & King of Austria-Hungary''. On 8 November 2020, Maria-Anna and Suzanne Pearson gave a lecture, as part of the

Cardinal Mindszenty Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

Speaker Series, called ''The Saintly Life of Blessed Karl of Austria-Hungary'', at

St. Mary of Victories Church The Church of St. Mary of Victories is a historic Roman Catholic church in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, in the Chouteau's Landing Historic District south of the Gateway Arch. It was established in 1843, and was the second Catholic Church to be ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

Personal life

Maria-Anna married Prince Piotr Dmitrijevitch Galitzine, a

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

aristocrat, businessman, and member of the

House of Golitsyn 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 ...

, on 24 November 1981 in a civil ceremony in

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre () or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, as well as th ...

. They had a Catholic ceremony on 25 November 1981 in

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city a ...

.''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XV. "Haus Österreich". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp. 87, 97. (German) . Maria-Anna and her husband had six children: * Princess Xenia Petrovna Galitzine (b. 23 May 1983) * Princess Tatiana Petrovna Galitzine (b. 16 August 1984) * Princess Alexandra Petrovna Galitzine (b. 7 August 1986) * Princess Maria Petrovna Galitzine (11 May 1988 – 4 May 2020) * Prince Dimitri Petrovich Galitzine (b. 11 June 1990) * Prince Ioann Teimouraz Petrovich Galitzine (b. 27 May 1992) Exiled from Austria in the earlier years of their marriage, due to the

Habsburg Law The Habsburg Law (''Habsburgergesetz'' (in full, the Law concerning the Expulsion and the Takeover of the Assets of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine) ''Gesetz vom 3. April 1919 betreffend die Landesverweisung und die Übernahme des Vermögens des H ...

, Maria-Anna and her family lived in Belgium, Luxembourg, Russia, and the United States. On 16 July 2011, the family attended the funeral and burial of Maria-Anna's uncle and the last crown prince of Austria,

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (german: Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius, hu, Ferenc József Ottó Róbert Mária Antal Károly Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Lajos Gaetan ...

, in Vienna. Her daughter, Princess Maria, died in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galitzine, Maria-Anna Living people 1954 births 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Austrian princesses Belgian people of Austrian descent Belgian people of Italian descent Belgian people of Portuguese descent Belgian people of Russian descent Belgian traditionalist Catholics Maria-Anna Maria-Anna Nobility from Brussels Roman Catholic activists Russian princesses by marriage Université catholique de Louvain alumni