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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A Habsburg engagement

The engagement is announced between Maximilian, youngest son of Archduke Géza von Habsburg of New York, and Archduchess Monica von Habsburg of Tete, Mozambique, and Arabella, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Stafford Northcote, of Bishton Hall, Staffordshire.

Maximilian, 38, is the youngest of Archduke Géza's three sons by his first wife, Monika Decker.   An internationally recognized art expert,  Archduke Géza lives with his second wife, Elizabeth, and their daughter, Isabella, in New York.

Both of Géza's marriages were morganatic.  In the early 1990s,  Archduke Otto upgraded the spouses and children of the marriages to the title of Count or Countess von Habsburg.

This branch is one of the most junior of the Habsburg branches.  Géza, who was born in 1940, is the seventh of eight children of Archduke Josef of Austria and Princess Anna of Saxony.

All three of Archduke Géza's sons are accomplished in their own professions.

Dr. von Habsburg has been teaching history at Oundle College since September 2001.  He attended Ampleforth College and St. Andrew's University, where he received his master's and Ph.D. in history.  His first book Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi, 1425–1650 From Late Medieval Classic to Early Modern Bestseller, was published in the fall of 2011.  He is also a member of the Catholic Reformation Research Network.

http://www.oundleschool.org.uk/news/newsItem.php?id=868

His older brother, Count Ferdinand, has studied at the University of Bradford, Fordham University in New York, and the University of Durham.  He has a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from Durham.

For more than 15 years, Ferdinand has been working in Southern Sudan and the Maldives with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He is now a consultant with UNICEF, based in Juba, South Sudan, and Nairobi.

http://www.oa.ampleforth.org.uk/news/ferdinand-von-habsburg-lothringen-e87

http://www.oa.ampleforth.org.uk/news/peace-or-pieces


Count Ferdinand married Mary Nyanut Ring Machar, a Dinka from South Sudan, in Nairobi in August 199.  They have four children: Countess Luisa Aluel (2000), Count Laszlo Rum (2002), Countess Gisela Aluk (2004), and Matyas Malith (2009).

The eldest of the three brothers, Count Franz Ferdinand married Theresa Joao Manuel Carlos at Tete, Mozambique, in January 1995.  They have two children, Countess Ana Monica (1995), and Count Philippo (1997).  He may also have a daughter, Jessica von Habsburg, who is also from Tete.

This marriage may have been dissolved as Frank is involved with an African-American woman, Lei Greenspan, from Columbia, South Carolina. She has a law degree from George Washington University.  She currently lives in Tete.

Franz is known professionally as Frank von Habsburg. He is the CEO of ProIntel Africa Lda, an accounting firm.  He has a degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Frank has been based in Tete for seventeen years.  He believes in the growth of Tete.

 ZT: What is the single most important piece of advice that you would give to someone thinking about investing in Tete or Mozambique?
FvH:
Have interminable patience, don’t take short cuts, and avoid paying bribes.

http://www.zambezitraveller.com/cahora-tete/business/tete-%E2%80%93-phoenix-rises


Frank's mother, Monika von Habsburg, also lives in Tete, where she owns and runs a B&B, Villa Habsburg, on the banks of the Zambezi River.

In 2009,  Franz said to his mother: “Mother, if you are bored there is lots happening in Tete, so please come and join us."

Monika was living in Scotland at the time.  She packed up everything and moved to Tete.

And, in case, you need a place to stay in Tete, Mozambique,  here the link to Villa Habsburg
http://villahabsburg.com/index.html



Dr. von Habsburg's fiancee, Arabella Northcote, 37, is a lawyer in Oxford.  The date of the wedding was not announced.

2 comments:

  1. Marlene, very interesting article on this family. I remember seeing Archduke Geza on Royal Families of the World, I think you appeared on that series too. Bea

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  2. I've been guest of Lady Monica few times in Tete, Moz! she is a brilliant!

    ReplyDelete