ඔස්ට්‍රියාවේ එලිසබෙත් අධිරාජිනිය

බැවේරියාවේ එලිසබෙත් අමාලී යුජිනී ආදිපාදවරිය  (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898.

Elisabeth was born into the royal Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. Nicknamed Sisi (also Sissi), she enjoyed an informal upbringing before marrying Emperor Franz Joseph I at the age of sixteen. The marriage thrust her into the much more formal Habsburg court life, for which she was unprepared and which she found uncongenial. Early in the marriage, she was at odds with her mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, who took over the rearing of Elisabeth's daughters, one of whom, Sophie, died in infancy. The birth of a son to the imperial couple, Crown Prince Rudolf, improved Elisabeth's standing at court, but her health suffered under the strain.  As a result, she would often visit Hungary for its more relaxed environment. She came to develop a deep kinship with Hungary and helped to bring about the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867.

The death of Elisabeth's only son and his mistress Mary Vetsera in a murder–suicide at his hunting lodge at Mayerling in 1889 was a blow from which the Empress never recovered. She withdrew from court duties and travelled widely, unaccompanied by her family. In 1890, she had the palace Achilleion built on the Greek island of Corfu. The palace featured an elaborate mythological motif and served as a refuge, which Elisabeth visited often. She was obsessively concerned with maintaining her youthful figure and beauty. In 1897, her sister, Sophie, died in an accidental fire at the Bazar de la Charité charity event in Paris. While travelling in Geneva in 1898, Elisabeth was mortally wounded by an Italian anarchist named Luigi Lucheni. Her tenure of 44 years was the longest of any Austrian empress.

References

Bibliography
 Nicole Avril: L'impératrice, Paris, 1993 ()
 Jennifer Bowers Bahney: Stealing Sisi's Star: How a master thief nearly got away with Austria's most famous jewel, (McFarland & Co., 2015 ()
Philippe Collas: Louis II de Bavière et Elisabeth d'Autriche, âmes sœurs, Éditions du Rocher, Paris/Monaco 2001 ()

 : Diaries (Tagebuchblätter, several editions in Modern Greek, German, French) ()
 Count Corti: Elizabeth, Empress of Austria (Thornton Butterworth: 1936) ()
 Barry Denenburg: The Royal Diaries: Elisabeth, The Princess Bride ()
 Stefan Haderer: Im Schatten Homers. Kaiserin Elisabeth in Griechenland. (NeoPubli: 2021) ()
 Stefan Haderer: Under the Spell of a Myth: Empress Sisi in Greece (KDP Publishing: 2022) ()
 Stefan Haderer: "Where an Empress used to lodge: Imperial Residences of Empress Elisabeth of Austria", Royalty Digest Quarterly, Vol. 01/2009, Rosvall Royal Books, Falköping 2009 () (44 pp.).
 Stefan Haderer: 'Empress Elisabeth's Final Odyssey", European Royal History Journal, Issue 64, Vol. 11.4, August 2008, Eurohistory, Arturo Beéche, East Richmond Heights, Calif.
 Brigitte Hamann: The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Knopf: 1986) () (410pp.).
 Brigitte Hamann: Sissi, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria (Taschen America: 1997) () (short, illustrated).
 Ann Nibbs: The Elusive Empress (Youwriteon.com: 2008) () (372pp).
 Maura E. Hametz and Heidi Schlipphacke: 'Sissi's World: The Empress Elisabeth in Memory and Myth' (Bloomsbury: 2018) () (408 pp.). 
 Matt Pavelich: Our Savage (Shoemaker & Hoard: 2004) () (270 pp.).
 Matteo Tuveri: "Elizabeth of Austria: A Beauvoirian perspective", Simone de Beauvoir Studies, Volume 24, 2007–2008, Published by the Simone de Beauvoir Society (California)
 Matteo Tuveri: Sissi: Myth and history, Journal Eco delle Dolomiti, Pinzolo (TN), Italy.
 Matteo Tuveri: Sissi becomes Lissy, L'Unione Sarda, 6 gennaio 2009, p. 40, Cagliari
 Matteo Tuveri: Specchi ad angoli obliqui. Diario poetico di Elisabetta d'Austria, Aracne, Rome, 2006 ()
 Matteo Tuveri: Tabularium. Considerazioni su Elisabetta d'Austria, Aracne, Rome, 2007 ()

External links

 Empress Elisabeth – Sisi
 Web site of the Italian biographer Matteo Tuveri: www.matteotuveri.it
 Sisi Museum of Vienna
 YouTube: Inner visit to Sisi Museum in Hofburg Palace, Vienna (min. 3:30)
 Empress Elisabeth at Tripod.com
 Sissi: myth and history – by Matteo Tuveri
 Elisabeth as a Young Mother and Wife
 The Empress was Assassinated
 What Happened to the Young Elisabeth at the Wedding night?
 The Land of Queen Elisabeth – The Royal Palace of Gödöllő

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