Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg

Maximilian Joseph Eugene Auguste Napoleon "de Beauharnais" (2 October 1817 Munich - 1 November 1852 St.Petersburg), 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, 3rd Prince of Venice, "Prince des Francais" and Hereditary Prince of the Kingdom of Italy (a creation of Napoleon I of France) and claimant to the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was the husband of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of Russia

Childhood

He was born as the second son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta Amalia Ludovika Georgia of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were Maximilian I, King of Bavaria and his first wife Marie Wilhelmine Auguste, Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt.

His maternal grandmother Marie Wilhelmine Auguste was a daughter of Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt, younger son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

He was also a brother of Josephine of Leuchtenberg, queen consort of Oscar I of Sweden.

Duke of Leuchtenberg

His maternal grandfather Maximilian of Bavaria appointed Eugène de Beauharnais, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg on 14 November, 1817. The title came with the effective administration of the Principality of Eichstätt. Maximilian was named "Prince of Leuchtenburg" and became the second-in-line heir to the Duchy.

On 21 February, 1824, his father died and his older brother became Auguste de Beauharnais, 2nd Duke of Leuchtenberg. His brother was yet childless and Maximilian became his Heir Presumptive.

Auguste eventually married Queen Maria II of Portugal but died childless on 28 March, 1835. Maximilian became the 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg at this point.

Marriage

He married Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of Russia on July 2, 1839 in the chapel of the Winter Palace. She was the eldest daughter of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia.

His father-in-law Nicholas I granted to him on 14 July 1839 the Russian and Finnish style "Imperial Highness", a rank he was entitled to as a descendant of the extended dynasty of Napoleon I of France. His father was an adoptive son of Napoleon.

Children

# Alexandra Princess Romanovskaja (1840-1843) died in childhood
# Maria Maximilianovna, of Leuchtenberg (1841-1914) m. William of Baden (1829-1897), younger son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
# Nicholas Maximilianovich, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1843-1891)
# Eugenia Maximilianovna, Princess Romanovskaja (1845-1925) m. Alexander of Oldenburg (1844-1932)
# Eugen Maximilianovich, 5th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1847-1901) m. Daria Opotchinina (1845-1870) m. Zinaida Skobeleva (1878-1899)
# Sergei Maximilianovich, Duke of Leuchtenberg (1849-1877) Killed in the Russo-Turkish war
# Georgi Maximilianovich, 6th Duke von Leuchtenberg (1852-1912) m.(1) Theresa of Oldenburg (1852-1883) m.(2) Anastasia of Montenegro (1868-1935)

Further descedants

Through his oldest surviving daughter Maria of Leuchtenberg (1841-1914), he is the grandfather of Prince Maximilian of Baden (1867-1929), Chancellor of Germany during World War I.

His youngest daughter Eugenie of Leuchtenberg (1845-1925) married Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg (1844-1932), the grandson of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, and became the mother of Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (1868-1924), the divorced husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (1882-1960), the youngest sister of Nicholas II of Russia.

External links

* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/french/beauh.html A Beauharnais genealogy]
* [http://www.geocities.com/henrivanoene/genleuchtenberg.html A listing of the Ducal family of Leuchtenberg]