Archduke Rudolf of Austria (1919–2010)


Rudolf von Habsburg was the sixth child and youngest son of Emperor Charles I of Austria and Zita of Bourbon-Parma.

Early life

He was born in Prangins, Switzerland, where the former Austrian Imperial family were staying after they had been sent into exile. He was named after Count Rudolph IV of Habsburg.
Educated with his siblings first in Spain then in Belgium,, but Rudolf was expelled in 1946 once his membership in the formerly imperial House of Habsburg was exposed. After the war he travelled to the United States, Canada and the Belgian Congo.
Rudolf worked as a Wall Street junior executive and a bank director.

Marriage and family

Rudolf was married by Archbishop Fulton Sheen to Countess Xenia Czernichev-Besobrasov the daughter of Count Sergei Aleksandrovich Chernyshev-Besobrasov and Countess Elizabeta Dmitrievna Cheremeteva, on 22 June 1953 at Tuxedo Park, New York. They had four children. Xenia was killed in a car crash on 20 September 1968, in which Rudolf was also seriously injured.
Rudolf was married secondly to Anna Gabriele von Wrede on 15 October 1971 in Ellingen, Bavaria. They have one daughter.
Rudolph was survived by two older brothers; Otto and Felix.

Ancestry