Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria

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 activist and member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. A granddaughter of Charles I of Austria and Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the last emperor and empress of Austria-Hungary, she has been active in supporting their cause for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Early life, family, and education Maria-Anna was born in exile in Brussels on 19 May 1954 to Archduke Rudolf of Austria and Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov. A member of the exiled Austrian imperial family, her father was the youngest son of Charles I and Zita, the last emperor and empress of Austria and king and queen of Hungary. Her mother was a member of the Russian nobility and a descendant of the Sheremetev family. 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. She was educated in Brussels and studied economics, politics, and sociology at Université catholique de Louvain. 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. 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.