Elisabeth of Austria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was the spouse of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. From an early age, she was called Sissi by family and friends.
Although Elisabeth had a limited influence on Austro-Hungarian politics, she became a historical icon. The Empress is now thought to have been a non-conformist who abhorred conventional court protocol, as well as a free spirit who valued an individual sense of freedom above anything else. Elisabeth, who was shy and introverted by nature, and more so among the stifling formality of Habsburg court life, had difficulty adapting to the Hofburg and its rigid protocols and strict etiquette.
Her two-year-old daughter died of typhus during a trip. Her death pushed Elisabeth, who was already prone to bouts of melancholy, into periods of heavy depression, which would haunt her for the rest of her life. Following the suicide of her son, Rudolf, she withdrew from public life. At 172 cm, Elisabeth was unusually tall, yet even after four pregnancies she kept her weight at almost 50 kg for the rest of her life. She achieved this through fasting and exercise. In the last years of her life, Elisabeth became even more restless and obsessive, weighing herself up to three times day. She regularly took steam baths to prevent weight gain; by 1894 she had wasted away to near emaciation, reaching her lowest point of 43.5 kg.
Her murder by an anarchist in Geneva, Switzerland in 1898 ended the life of a woman who has since become known as an enigmatic and tragic figure.
