Marie Zéphyrine

Marie Zéphyrine of France as Madame Royale

Marie Zéphyrine (born August 26, 1750 in Versailles Palace , † September 2, 1755 in Versailles Palace) was a French princess. She was the first daughter of Louis Ferdinand and Maria Josepha von Sachsen .

Life

Marie Zéphyrine was born in the Palace of Versailles in 1750 to the Dauphins and Dauphins of France. It got its name after Zephyros , the Greek name for west wind; it was given to her because she was born on August 26th, the feast of the ancient Pope Zephyrinus .

Her birth was greeted with caution; In the past two years, 1748 and 1749, Maria Josepha had suffered miscarriages and was in poor health. Louis XV had hoped for a boy.

As the daughter of the Dauphin, Marie Zéphyrine took the rank of daughter of France and was above the king's daughters, their aunts. These included the Duchess of Parma, Marie Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon , and her twin sister Madame Henriette . As a member of the royal family, Marie Zéphyrine had the right to be called Royal Highness , but at court she was known as Madame Royale or la Petite Madame . Her mother wanted her to marry her cousin, Prince Anton , Elector of Saxony.

Marie Zéphyrine was raised by Marie Isabelle de Rohan . In September 1751 she got a brother, Ludwig, Duke of Burgundy. She is said to have resembled her mother, although she did not survive childhood. In 1753 she got another brother named Xavier, Duke of Aquitaine, who died in 1754. Her best-known brother, the future Louis XVI. of France, was born on August 23, 1754. The future Louis XVIII. of France was born in November 1755, two months after her death.

Marie Zéphryine died in Versailles of a seizure in the early morning hours of September 2, 1755, after she had been baptized by the Abbé de Chabannes, the aumônier du Roi , just a few days earlier . The girl was not officially mourned, since in Versailles a princess was only mourned when she was over the age of 7. Marie Zéphryine was buried in the royal cathedral of Saint-Denis outside the capital, Paris .