Duke of Leuchtenberg

Duke of Leuchtenberg was a title created twice by the monarchs of Bavaria for their relatives. The first creation was awarded by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria to his son Maximilian Philipp Hieronymus, upon whose death without children the lands passed back to his nephew Elector Maximilian II. It was re-created by Maximilian I Joseph, King of Bavaria on 14 November 1817 and awarded to his son-in-law Eugène de Beauharnais. Eugène was the adopted step-son of the deposed Emperor Napoleon I of France, and Eugène had been his heir in Frankfurt and briefly in Italy. King Maximilian Joseph compensated his son-in-law after he lost his other titles and named him heir to the kingdom after the male-line descendants of the royal house and next in precedence after the Royal Family.

The companion title, also in the Bavarian peerage, was Prince of Eichstätt, which was resigned by the 4th Duke to the King of Bavaria in 1855. On 14 July 1839, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia granted the Russian and Finnish style Imperial Highness to the 3rd Duke, Maximilian, who had just married his daughter, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna.

Nicholas, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg, was named as Duke of Leuchtenberg in the Russian Empire in 1890 by Alexander III of Russia, as they were by then members of the extended Russian Imperial Family. This creation elevated the style from Serene to Imperial Highness, and was to be carried by all male line descendants of Nicholas born of marriages of corresponding rank, of the incumbent Duke from 1852 to 1891. The title was largely ceremonial, with no lands or governance attached; the style and title became "Duke von (or of) Leuchtenberg, de Beauharnais."

Following the death of the 8th Duke in 1974, no remaining heirs of full dynastic status remained; the 8th Duke's parents' marriage was the last equal marriage entered into by a male dynast of the House of Beauharnais. The title is claimed by Nicolas de Leuchtenberg (born 1933),^{[citation needed]} senior heir of the 4th Duke by a morganatic marriage.

Dukes of Leuchtenberg, 18th century to 1817

Dukes of Leuchtenberg, 1817 to 1974

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Eugène de Beauharnais 1817–1824 styled Royal Highness by personal grant French Prince (1804), Viceroy of Italy (1805), Prince of Venice (1807), heir to the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt (1810)		3 September 1781 Paris, France son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie	Princess Augusta of Bavaria 14 January 1806 7 children	21 February 1824 Munich, Bavaria aged 42
Auguste de Beauharnais 1824–1835 styled Serene Highness, created Imperial and Royal Highness by his wife Duke of Santa Cruz (1829), Prince Consort of Portugal (1834)		9 December 1810 Milan, Lombardy, Italy son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria	Maria II, Queen of Portugal 1 December 1834 no children	28 March 1835 Lisbon, Portugal aged 24
Maximilian de Beauharnais 1835–1852 styled Serene Highness, granted the style Imperial Highness by his father-in-law		2 October 1817 Munich, Bavaria son of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria	Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia 2 July 1839 7 children	1 November 1852 Saint Petersburg, Russia aged 35
Nicholas Maximilianovich de Beauharnais 1852–1891 styled Imperial Highness		4 August 1843 son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia	Nadezhda Sergeevna Annenkova (morganatic) October 1868 2 sons	6 January 1891 Paris, France aged 47
Eugene Maximilianovich de Beauharnais 1891–1901 styled Imperial Highness		8 February 1847 Saint Petersburg, Russia son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia	Daria Opotchinina (morganatic) 20 January 1869 1 daughter Zinaida Skobeleva (morganatic) 14 July 1878 no children	31 August 1901 Saint Petersburg, Russia aged 54
George Maximilianovich de Beauharnais 1901–1912 styled Imperial Highness		29 February 1852 Saint Petersburg, Russia son of Maximilian de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia	Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg 12 May 1879 one son Princess Anastasia of Montenegro 16 April 1889 2 children	16 May 1912 Paris, France aged 60 (15)
Alexander Georgievich de Beauharnais 1912–1942 styled Imperial Highness; reverted to Serene Highness following abolition of Russian titles in 1918; title held in pretense after abolition of German monarchy in 1919		13 November 1881 Saint Petersburg, Russia son of George Maximilianovich and Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg	Nadezhda Nicolaevna Caralli (morganatic) 22 January 1917 no children	26 September 1942 Salies-de-Béarn, France aged 60
Sergei Georgievich de Beauharnais 1942–1974 styled Serene Highness		4 July 1890 Peterhof, Russia son of George Maximilianovich and Princess Anastasia of Montenegro	never married	7 January 1974 Rome, Italy aged 83

Genealogy

• Eugène, married Princess Augusta of Bavaria, 7 children including:
  • Auguste, 2nd Duke, Duke of Santa Cruz, married Queen Maria II of Portugal, no issue
  • Maximilian, 3rd Duke, married Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, 7 children, including:
    • Maria, Princess Romanovskaja (1841-1941) married Prince William of Baden (1829-1897)
      • Prince Max of Baden
    • Nicolas Maximilianovitch de Leuchtenberg (4 August 1843 in the datcha of Sergueïvskoïe - 6 January 1891, Paris), 4th Duke (1843-1891), prince Romanowsky, buried in a monastery near St Petersburg. On 5 July 1868 he married Nadedja Annenkov (1840-1891), two children:
      • Nicolas Nicolaïevitch de Leuchtenberg (17 October 1868, Geneva - 2 March 1928, Vaucluse, France), married Maria Nicolaïevna, comtesse Grabee (1869-1948) on 6 September 1894, 7 children, including:
        • Alexandra Nicolaïevna de Leuchtenberg (1895-1960), princess Romanowskaya, in 1916 married Levan Melikov (1893-1928) (divorced), in 1922 married Nicolas Terestchenko (1894-1926)
        • Nicolas Nicolaïevitch de Leuchtenberg (1896, Gori, near Novgorod -1937), married Olga Fomina (1898-1921), on 8 September 1919 at Novotcherkask and then (after her death) remarried on 3 November 1928 at Munich, toÉlisabeth Müller-Himmler (1906-1999), two children by his second marriage:
          • Eugénie Élisabeth de Leuchtenberg (1929-), in 1958 married Martin von Bruch (1911-)
          • Nicolas de Leuchtenberg, on 24 August 1962 married Anne Bügge (1933-), two children:
            • Nicolas Maximilien de Leuchtenberg (1963-2002)
            • Constantin de Leuchtenberg (1965-)
        • Nadejda Nicolaïevna de Leuchtenberg, (1898 Gori, near Novgorod -1962, San Francisco), in 1929 married Alexandre Yakovlevich Mogilevsky (1885, Odessa -1953, Tokyo)
          • Michael Alexandrevich de Beauharnais-Mogilevsky (1929-) married Joan Russell (1931-)
            • Michelle de Beauharnais Mogilevsky (1956-) in 1980 married Jeffre Harrison
            • Anton de Beauharnais Mogilevsky (1960-) in 1995 married Holly Jill Smith (1969-)
            • Andre' Jon de Beauharnais Mogilevsky (1962-) married Kimberly Potter
        • Maximilien Nicolaïevitch de Leuchtenberg (1900-1905)
        • Serge Nicolaïevitch de Leuchtenberg (1903-1966), in 1925 married Anne Maumova (1900-?), (divorced in 1938, 4 children), in 1939 married Kira Wolkova (1915-), (divorced in 1942, 2 children), and finally married Olga Wickberg (1926-)
      • Georges de Leuchtenberg, (1872-1929), prince Romanowsky, in 1895 married Olga Repnina (1872-1953), (6 children).
    • Eugenia Maximilianovna, Princess Romanovskaja (1845-1925) m. Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg (1844-1932)
      • Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, married Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia
    • 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) Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg (1852-1883) m.(2) Princess Anastasia of Montenegro (1868-1935), 3 children, including:
      • Alexander Georgievich, 7th Duke von Leuchtenberg (1881-1942), married Nadeshda Caralli (1883-1964) on 22 April 1917
      • Sergei Georgievich, 8th Duke von Leuchtenberg (1890-1974)
      • Elena Georgievena, Princess Romanovskaja (1892-1971)
    • Elena Georgievna, Princess Romanovskaja (1845-1925) m. Count Stefan Tyszkiewicz (1896-1976)

External links

• Beauharnais family
• An Online Gotha - Leuchtenberg