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Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria

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Royalty

The Resume

    (September 2, 1883-March 16, 1963)
    Born in Laxenburg, Austria
    Only child of Crown Prince Rudolf
    Granddaughter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary and King Leopold II of Belgium
    Joined the Socialist Democratic Party (1921)
    Nicknamed 'the Red Duchess' for her socialist views

Why she might be annoying:

    She broke off all contact with her mother, Princess Stephanie of Belgium, after Stephanie married a Protestant Hungarian count (1900).
    She fell in love with Prince Otto Weriand of Windisch-Graetz when he was engaged to another woman. She got her grandfather the Emperor to order Prince Otto to break off his 'lesser' engagement and marry her.
    She shot her husband's mistress, actress Louise Ziegler, who later died from the wound (1903).
    She openly carried on an affair with an Austrian submarine captain during World War I.
    She was estranged from her children, with her daughter Stephanie later saying that she married her first husband because Elisabeth Marie disapproved of him.
    Despite her professed socialist beliefs, she lived in a luxurious villa surrounded by the jewels and art treasures inherited from her royal relatives. (One visitor to the villa noted, 'Revolutionary literature and an imperial snuff box occupied adjoining shelves.')
    Her will ordered that her dogs be put to sleep after her death.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She was forced to renounce her place in the line of succession before her marriage to Prince Otto.
    Her second husband, socialist politician Leopold Petznek, was imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau concentration camp (1944-45).
    When the Red Army occupied Vienna at the end of World War II, Soviet soldiers ransacked her villa.
    Her villa was subsequently commandeered as headquarters for French General Emile Bethouart, and she and her husband were unable to return until the end of the Allied occupation of Austria (1955).
    In her will, she left the Hapsburg relics she inherited to the state of Austria.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 23 Votes: 13.04% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 23 Votes: 13.04% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 96 Votes: 61.46% Annoying