Background
Maria Anna was born in Palazzo Colonna in Rome, the daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and of his wife, Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este.
Maria Anna was born in Palazzo Colonna in Rome, the daughter of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia and of his wife, Archduchess Maria Teresa of Austria-Este.
She was Empress of Austria. Queen of Hungary, Bohemia, Lombardy and Venetia. She had a twin sister Maria Teresa.
The two princesses were baptised by Pope Pius VII. On 12 February 1831 Maria Anna was married by procuration in Turin to King Ferdinand V of Hungary (later Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria).
On 27 February the couple were married in person in Vienna in the Hofburg chapel by the Cardinal Archbishop of Olmütz. Maria Anna and Ferdinand had no children.
Ferdinand succeeded as Emperor of Austria on 2 March 1835. Maria Anna became Empress of Austria.
On 12 September 1836 she was crowned as Queen of Bohemia at Prague.
On 2 December 1848 Ferdinand abdicated as Emperor of Austria, but retaining his imperial rank. Maria Anna was henceforward titled Empress Maria Anna. They lived in retirement together, spending the winters at Prague Castle and the summers at Reichstadt (now Zákupy) or at Ploschkowitz (now Ploskovice).
Maria Anna died in Prague.
She is buried next to her husband in tomb number 63 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. Titles and styles 19 September 1803 – 12 February 1831 Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Anna of Savoy.
12 February 1831 – 2 December 1848 Her Majesty The Queen of Hungary. 2 March 1835 – 2 December 1848 Her Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty The Empress of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Queen of Lombardy-Venetia.
2 December 1848 – 4 May 1884 Her Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Empress-Queen Maria Anna.