Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg

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Maximilian de Beauharnais
Portrait by Karl Briullov, 1849
Duke of Leuchtenberg
Reign	28 March 1835 – 1 November 1852
Predecessor	Auguste de Beauharnais
Successor	Nicholas Maximilianovich
Born	(1817-10-02)2 October 1817 Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria
Died	1 November 1852(1852-11-01) (aged 35) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Spouse	Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia ​ ​ (m. 1839)​
Issue	Princess Alexandra Maria, Princess Louis William of Baden Nicholas, Duke of Leuchtenberg Eugenia, Duchess Alexander of Oldenburg Eugen, Duke of Leuchtenberg Prince Sergei Georgi, Duke of Leuchtenberg
Names Maximilian Joseph Eugene Auguste Napoleon
House	Beauharnais
Father	Eugène de Beauharnais
Mother	Princess Augusta of Bavaria

Maximilian Joseph Eugene Auguste Napoleon de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince Romanowsky (2 October 1817 – 1 November 1852) was the husband of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of Russia and first cousin of Emperors Napoleon III of the French and Francis Joseph I of Austria. He was a grandson of Napoleon I's first wife, the Empress Josephine, by her prior marriage to Alexandre de Beauharnais.

A student of Moritz von Jacobi, he is known as one of pioneers in galvanoplasty and an expert in copper and bronze metalworks generally, as well as an art collector.

He was born as the second son of Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg and Prince of Eichstätt and Princess Augusta Amalia Ludovika Georgia of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were Maximilian I, King of Bavaria and his first wife Marie Wilhelmine Auguste, Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt.

His maternal grandmother Marie Wilhelmine Auguste was a daughter of Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt, younger son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

He was a brother of:

• Auguste de Beauharnais, Prince consort of Maria II of Portugal;
• Amélie de Beauharnais, Empress consort of Pedro I of Brazil;
• Josephine of Leuchtenberg, Queen consort of Oscar I of Sweden.

His maternal grandfather Maximilian of Bavaria appointed his father, Eugène de Beauharnais, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg on 14 November 1817. The title came with the effective administration of the Principality of Eichstätt. Maximilian was named "Prince of Leuchtenberg" and became the second-in-line heir to the Duchy.

On 21 February 1824, his father died and his older brother became Auguste de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg. His brother was yet childless and Maximilian became his Heir Presumptive.

Auguste eventually married Queen Maria II of Portugal but died childless on 28 March 1835. Maximilian became the 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg at this point.

He married Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of Russia on 2 July 1839 in the chapel of the Winter Palace. She was the eldest daughter of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia.

His father-in-law Nicholas I granted to him on 14 July 1839 the Russian and Finnish style Imperial Highness, a rank he was entitled to as a descendant of the extended dynasty of Napoleon I of France. His father was an adoptive son of Napoleon.

1. Princess Alexandra Maximilianovna (1840–1843), died in childhood
2. Princess Maria Maximilianovna (1841–1914) m. Prince Wilhelm of Baden (1829–1897), younger son of Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden
3. Nicholas Maximilianovich, 4th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1843–1891) m. Nadezhda Annenkova (1840-1891)
4. Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna (1845–1925) m. Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg (1844–1932)
5. Eugen Maximilianovich, 5th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1847–1901) m.(1) Daria Opotchinina (1845–1870) m.(2) Zinaida Skobeleva (1856–1899)
6. Prince Sergei Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg [ru] (1849–1877). Killed in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.
7. George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg (1852–1912) m.(1) Duchess Therese Petrovna of Oldenburg (1852–1883) m.(2) Princess Anastasia of Montenegro (1868–1935)

Through his oldest surviving daughter Princess Maria Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg (1841–1914), he is the grandfather of Prince Maximilian of Baden (1867–1929), Chancellor of Germany during World War I, and Princess Marie of Baden, the last Duchess consort of Anhalt.

His youngest daughter Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg (1845–1925) married Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg (1844–1932), the grandson of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, and became the mother of Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (1868–1924), the divorced husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia (1882–1960), the youngest sister of Nicholas II of Russia.

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Marek, Miroslav. "A Beauharnais genealogy". Genealogy.EU.
• A listing of the Ducal family of Leuchtenberg at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009)
• "Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg" (in German). Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte.