Géza Ladislaus Euseb Gerhard Rafael Albert Maria von Habsburg (born 14 November 1940) is a Fabergé expert who has published books and articles on the jewellers Peter Carl Fabergé and Victor Mayer. He is the curator of several major international Fabergé exhibitions. Géza von Habsburg coined the term Fauxbergé. As a member of the

House of Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine () originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Habsburg monarchy, Austria, later successively List of Bohemian monarchs, Queen ...

, he holds the abolished but courtesy titles of ''Archduke of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia'', with the style of '' Imperial and Royal Highness''. Almanach de Gotha (2018), 'Austria', Pages 42-86

Life

Géza von Habsburg is the son of Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria (1895–1957) and his wife Princess Anna of Saxony (1903–1976); thus, he is a grandson of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony and great-great-great-grandson of Emperor Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Géza attended universities in Fribourg and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, Switzerland;

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany; and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, before graduating as a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from the University of Fribourg in 1965. In 1966 he joined the staff of Christie, Manson & Woods Auctioneers as Chairman, Switzerland, overseeing a network of offices throughout Europe. In 1980 he became Chairman of European Operations for the company. Later in his career, he served for four years as chairman, New York and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, of Habsburg Fine Art International Auctioneers. In both companies, he specialized in silver and gold, objects of vertu and Russian art. Since 1998, he has been based in New York. Géza von Habsburg is an internationally renowned author and leading authority on Fabergé. Much of his career has been devoted to organizing and curating exhibitions all over the world. He served as the curator and organizer for Fabergé, Jeweller to the Tsars (1986–87) at the ''Kunsthalle'' in Munich. Also, while a Board Member of the Fabergé Arts Foundation, he was Chief Curator of Fabergé, Imperial Court Jeweller (1993–94), which was shown in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Paris and London. He also served as guest curator of Fabergé in America, which toured five cities in the United States (1996–97). As an educator, Géza von Habsburg served as an associate professor at the New York School of Interior Design, the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He is currently a lecturer for the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York. Some of his topics include "Princely Collections," "The Habsburgs as Collectors and Patrons of the Arts", and "Celebrated Habsburg Women". Fluent in seven languages, Géza joined Fabergé Co. in 1994 as a consultant, spokesman and lecturer worldwide. He has written seven and co-written two books on Fabergé and related topics, as well as some 75 articles, which have been published in various art journals all over the world. In addition, he has been featured in a Russian film (1994), a Japanese film and two biographies for the Arts & Entertainment Networks (A&E), all in association with Fabergé. Géza has also been featured in the A&E documentary ''Treasures of the Habsburgs'' (1998), and in ''Habsburgs Today'' on the Romance Channel (1999).

Marriage and children

On 7 July 1965, his first marriage was to Monika Decker (born 1 December 1939 at Frankfurt-am-Main,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

). As he contracted a

morganatic marriage Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spou ...

, he has to renounce his ancestral dynastic rights and regal titles for the downgraded title of ''Count von Habsburg''. Together, they have three sons: * Franz Ferdinand (born 8 May 1967) * Ferdinand Leopold Joseph (born 14 Jul 1969) * Maximilian Philip (born 7 July 1974) Géza and Monika Decker were divorced on 23 September 1991, and their marriage was annulled 6 July 1993. On 4 January 1992, he married civilly (and religiously on 1 Dec 1993) Elizabeth Jane Kunstadter (born 1957), with whom he has a daughter: * Isabella Maria Luisa (born 24 September 1996 in New York) Elizabeth von Habsburg graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and received a master's degree in international relations from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Her parents run the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation, a philanthropy in New York.

Notes

References

faberge-exhibition

External links

Géza von Habsburg's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hapsburg, Geza von 1939 births Living people Nobility from Budapest House of Habsburg-Lorraine Hungarian people of Austrian descent Hungarian people of German descent University of Fribourg alumni 20th-century Hungarian people 21st-century Hungarian people Knights of Malta Fabergé