Princess Pia Maria of Brazil

Princess Pia Maria of Brazil, Countess of Nicolay (Portuguese: Princesa Pia Maria Raniera Isabella Antonia Vitoria Thereza Amélia Gerarda Raimunda Anna Micaela Rafaela Gabriela Gonzaga de Orléans e Bragança; 4 March 1913 - 24 October 2000) was a Princess and member of the House of Orléans-Braganza and the Brazilian Imperial Family. Form 1931 to 1938 she was Princess Imperial of Brazil as heir to her older brother Pedro Henrique, Prince of Brazil.

Life
With the premature death of her father, Luís, Prince Imperial of Brazil, in 1920, and the following year, the death of her grandmother, Empress Isabel I of Brazil, in 1921, Pia Maria's older brother Pedro Henrique, Prince of Grão-Pará was raised to the title Prince Imperial of Brazil in 1920, and the position of Head of the Imperial House of Brazil in 1921. At the time of the latter claim, Prince Pedro Henrique still had no children, so Prince Luiz Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, brother of Pedro Henrique and Pia Maria, became Prince Imperial. Prince Luiz Gastão died early ten years later, at the age of twenty, in 1931, giving Pia Maria, for the brief period of seven years, the title of Princess Imperial of Brazil as the second in the line of succession to the former Brazilian throne and the dignity of Imperial Highness which she kept for life.

This situation changed in 1938, when the first-born of Pedro Henrique, Luiz, Prince of Brazil was born. Pia Maria returned to using an earlier title of Princess of Brazil, the third in line of succession, a situation that she would retain even through unequal marriage, with the Count of Nicolay. The "provisional" situation of Princess Imperial to which Pia Maria was subjected is similar to that of her great-great-aunt Princess Januária of Brazil, who was the Princess Imperial from 1835 to 1845, when the firstborn of the Emperor Pedro II was born.

She died at the Chateau de Le Lude on 24 October 2000.

Marriage and issue
She married in Paris, on 12 August 1948, René Jean Marie Nicholas de Nicolay, Count of Nicolay (1910-1954), son of Aymard Marie Jean de Nicolay, Marquis of Goussainville, and his wife, the Marquise Yvonne Léonie Marie Anne Georgine. They had two children:


 * Louis-Jean de Nicolaÿ, Marquis de Goussainville (born Louis-Jean de Nicolay, Le Mans, France, 18 September 1949). He is senator by Sarthe, department of France. He married in Luxembourg on 23 August 1980 Barbara Marie Anne d'Ursel de Bousies, daughter of Count Michel Alfred Isabelle Marie d'Ursel de Bousies. They had two sons and two daughters:
 * Marie-Adélaïde Jeanne Paule Bénédicte Stéphanie de Nicolaÿ (b. 1982)
 * Marguerite Marie Philippine Roberte Jeanne Paola de Nicolaÿ (b. 1984)
 * Antoine Marie Philippe René Michel Joseph de Nicolaÿ (b. 1988)
 * Arnaud de Nicolaÿ (b. 1991)


 * Robert Maria Pio Benoit de Nicolaÿ (born Robert Marie Pie Benoit de Nicolay, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, February 17, 1952). He held various positions in the government of France, having become Minister of State. He married in Paris on 5 February 1983 Nathalie Laetitia Jeanne Yvonne Marie, Princess of Murat, daughter of Prince Napoléon Joachim Louis Maurice Murat (son of Prince Alexandre Murat and grandson of Joachim, 5th Prince Murat) and Inès d'Albert de Luynes (daughter of Philippe d'Albert, 11th duc de Luynes). They had two sons and three daughters:
 * Irène Marie Pia Inès de Nicolaÿ (1985-2007)
 * Louise Marie Jeanne Yvonne de Nicolaÿ (b. 1987)
 * Elvire Marie Pauline Laure de Nicolaÿ (b. 1988)
 * René de Nicolaÿ (b. 1991)
 * Christian de Nicolaÿ (b. 2002)

Notes and sources

 * Imperial House of Brazil (Portuguese)
 * thePeerage.com - Dom Luíz Gastão António Maria Felipe de Orléans-Bragança e Borbon
 * The Royal House of Stuart, London, 1969, 1971, 1976, Addington, A. C., Reference: page 50.