Princess Maria Anna of Naples and Sicily (; 23 November 1775 – 22 February 1780) was a member of the

Spanish Royal Family The Spanish royal family constitutes the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon (), also known as the House of Bourbon-Anjou (). The royal family is headed by King Felipe VI and currently consists of the King; Queen Letizia; their children, Leono ...

(branched out to the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

Early life

Maria Anna was born at the Royal Palace in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Her father was Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria, the third son and ninth child of

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Her mother was the Archduchess of Austria, the tenth daughter and thirteenth child of the famous

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

and her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was baptised during the first year of her life. Her full name was ''Maria Anna Giuseppa Antoinette Francesca Gaetana Teresa Amalia Clementina'', her first four names were the same as her mother's eldest sister Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1738-1789). She was born and died while her father was still styled ''

Duke of Calabria Duke of Calabria was the traditional title of the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Naples after the accession of Robert of Naples. It was also adopted by the heads of certain Houses that had once claimed the Kingdom of Naples in lieu of the royal ...

''. She was then styled '' Princess of Naples and Sicily''. Her older siblings were

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

, namesake of her

grandmother Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maxi ...

, born in 1772; Maria Luisa, born in 1773 and Carlo, Duke of Calabria, born just ten months before her. He also died in childhood, yet Maria Anna outlived him.

Death

Due to the fact that Maria Anna was born just ten months after her older brother Carlo Francesco Giuseppe Gennaro, her birth was extremely difficult for

Maria Carolina Maria Carolina or Marie Caroline may refer to: Royalty * Maria Karolina Sobieska (1697–1740), Princess of Turenne and Duchess of Bouillon * Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (born 1740) (1740–1741), daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and E ...

, and thus for the baby too. She was a very frail and weak child. Her health was reason for debate and when her brother Carlo, Duke of Calabria became ill with

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

, he was immediately transferred to the Caserta Palace in order to prevent Maria Anna from getting sick, too. Carlo eventually succumbed to the illness on 17 December 1778, aged just three. In 1778, against all efforts, she contracted

. She rallied for a while, but died on 22 February 1780.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Anna of Naples and Sicily, Princess 1775 births 1780 deaths 18th-century Neapolitan people House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Sicilian princesses Burials at the Basilica of Santa Chiara 18th-century royalty 18th-century Italian women Deaths from smallpox Italian royalty who died as children Daughters of kings Children of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies