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Principessa Maria Pia of Sardinia
(1847–1911)

Biographical

Dame of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus [Italy]
Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross [Austria]
Dame of the Order of St Theresa [Bavaria]
Dame Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta [Vatican]

Goddaughter of Pope Pius IX, Maria Pia arrived at Lisbon and was greeted warmly by the people. She did not involve herself in politics, but she did influence her husband, and remained firmly beside him during the various crises the nation experienced when she was queen. She encouraged the abolition of slavery in the Portuguese colonies, and she organised relief efforts during the floods of 1876. After the murder of her son and grandson, she sought refuge at Naples.

Place of birth: Turin
Place of marriage: Lisbon
Place of death: Stupinigi
Place of burial: Basilica of Superga

Daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy and Maria Adelheid, Archduchess of Austria (Habsburg). She married Luís I, King of Portugal (Bragança) in 1862, and had issue.

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