Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (born 1737)

Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (5 February 1737 – 7 June 1740) was the eldest child and daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Life
Maria Elisabeth was born on 5 February 1737 at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. There was no great jubilation at the birth of the child, since her parents, including many courtiers, had wanted a son and heir.

A lively and beautiful child, she soon became the favorite of both her parents. Her grandfather, Emperor Charles VI, spoke with pleasure of his eldest granddaughter, whom he nicknamed Liesl, and often played with her.

During a visit to the Laxenburg Castle on 7 June 1740, Maria Elisabeth suddenly became ill with stomach cramps and vomiting. Throughout the day, the stomach cramps alternated with ever-renewed vomiting until the archduchess died that night at 9 p.m., at the age of 3. Her father, Francis Stephen, detailed the death of his firstborn child:

"At eight o'clock I was summoned and handed over to me a letter of the doctor, from which I deduced that it is time to take my wife away, for the child will not live longer. I walked away a little confused, and found my wife completely burst in tears when I arrived. I took them by the hand and took them to her apartments. Then I went back with the sick child. I had only been for a while when she sat up, looked at me, and said with a clear voice, 'I commend myself, O my God!'. Then she fell back and died in my arms."

Maria Elisabeth was the first member of the Habsburg-Lorraine family to be buried in the Maria Theresa Vault at the Imperial Crypt, in Vienna. One of her younger sisters was given her name.