Archduke Stefan of Austria


Archduke Stefan of Austria was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and the eldest child and son of Archduke Anton of Austria and his wife Princess Ileana of Romania. He was a great-great Grandson of Queen Victoria, Tsar Alexander II, Queen Maria II of Portugal, and Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies

Early life

Stefan was baptised with the name of Stefan von Habsburg-Lothringen. He was born in Mödling, Austria and spent the first years of his childhood in Castle Sonnberg, Austria. In 1942, he moved with his parents and four sisters and brother to Romania. While there, Stefan's parents made their residence at Bran, Braşov. After his 1st cousin, Michael of Romania, was forced to abdicate and expelled by the Communist regime late in 1947, Stefan left the country with his parents. Stefan then lived first in Switzerland, then in Argentina, and then finally in the United States. He was naturalized as a United States citizen. He was a graduate from Malvern Preparatory School and MIT. He established a division for advanced research at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan. He is buried at St. Wenceslaus in Suttons Bay, Michigan.

Marriage and issue

Stefan married morganatically to Mary Jerrine Soper on 26 August 1954 at St. Elizabeth's Church in Milton, Massachusetts. Stefan and Jerrine had five children together.

Title and style