Countess Elizabeth Dobrženský von Dobrženitz

Elisabeth Maria Adelheid Dobrženský von Dobrženitz (also Dobrzensky de Dobrzenicz; Czech: Alžběta Maria Adelheid Dobřenská z Dobřenic; 7 December 1875 – 11 June 1951) was a Bohemian noblewoman whose marriage to the son of the former heiress to the throne of Brazil prompted renunciation of his claim to the abolished monarchy's throne.

Elizabeth Dobrženský
Princess Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza
Photo of Elisabeth Dobrzensky of Dobrzenicz
Born	Alžběta Maria Adelheid Dobřenská z Dobřenic (1875-12-07)7 December 1875 Chotěboř, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died	11 July 1951(1951-07-11) (aged 75) Sintra, Portugal
Burial	Cathedral of Petrópolis, Petrópolis, Brazil
Spouse	Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará ​ ​ (m. 1908; died 1940)​
Issue	Princess Isabelle, Countess of Paris Prince Pedro Gastão Princess Maria Francisca, Duchess of Braganza Prince João Maria Princess Teresa
House	Orléans-Braganza (by marriage)
Father	Count Johann Wenzel Dobrženský von Dobrženicz
Mother	Countess Elisabeth Kottulinsky von Kottulin und Krzizkowitz

Early life

Chotěboř castle, country estate of the Dobrženský family, members of an old Bohemian nobility

Born in the Chotěboř castle, family estate of an old Bohemian noble family, Elisabeth Maria Adelheid was the fourth child and only daughter of Johann Wenzel, Count Dobrženský of Dobrženicz (1841–1919) and his wife, Countess Elisabeth Kottulinsky, Baroness of Kottulin and Krzizkowitz (1850–1929).^[1]

She had three elder brothers Jan, Otokar and Jaroslav and a younger brother named Karl Kunata. Karl Kunata renamed himself to Count Kottulinský, like his maternal family, in Austria in 1905; late in 1912, he married Countess Maria Theresia von Meran (1893-1981), member of a morganatic branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.^[1][2]

Legacy

Coat of arms of the Dobrženský family

Elisabeth married Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará on 14 November 1908 at Versailles. He had previously renounced his hereditary claim to the crown of Brazil because she was not of royal birth.^[1][2] They had five children:^[1]

• Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza (1911–2003) married Henri, count of Paris (parents of Henri, Orléanist pretender to the throne of France).^[2]
• Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (1913–2007) married Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (parents of Princess Maria da Gloria, Duchess of Segorbe, former Crown Princess of Yugoslavia).^[2]
• Princess Maria Francisca of Orléans-Braganza (1914–1968) married Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (parents of Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, the current pretender to the throne of Portugal).^[2]
• Prince João Maria of Orléans-Braganza (1916–2005) married Fatima Sherifa Chirine (1923-1990), widow of Prince Hassan Toussoun, Prince of Egypt.
• Princess Teresa of Orléans-Braganza (1919-2011) married Ernesto António Maria Martorell y Calderó (1921-1985).

Death

Elisabeth died on 11 June 1951, in Sintra, Portugal, aged 75. She was buried alongside her husband, Pedro d'Alcantara in Cathedral of Petrópolis.^[3]

Honors

• Austria-Hungary : Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross.^{[citation needed]}

Ancestry

Ancestors of Countess Elizabeth Dobrženský von Dobrženitz

8. Baron Johann Wenzel Dobrženský von Dobrženicz 4. Baron Johann Nepomuk Dobrženský von Dobrženicz 9. Baroness Maria Anna Pergler von Perglas 2. Count Johann Wenzel Dobrženský von Dobrženicz 10. Baron Josef Joachim Wanczura von Rzenicz 5. Baroness Marie Friederike Wanczura von Rzenicz 11. Baroness Friederike Lamotte von Frintropp 1. Countess Elisabeth Dobrženský von Dobrženicz 12. Count Josef Johann Kottulinsky von Kottulin und Krzizkowitz 6. Count Josef Kottulinsky von Kottulin und Krzizkowitz 13. Countess Maria Josefa Katzianer zu Katzenstein 3. Countess Elisabeth Kottulinsky von Kottulin und Krzizkowitz 14. Count Franz Anton von Attems-Heiligenkreuz 7. Countess Adelheid von Attems-Heiligenkreuz 15. Countess Ernestine Khuen von Belasi