In mid 2024 Josef N Kunz, the co-researcher of the previous
article on the Iturbide family of Mexico that was published on this blog, was
contacted by Mexican researcher Alberto Alejandre who had digitalised the Iturbide-Kearney
Family Collection at the Catholic University of America. The collection had
been donated by Mary Louise de Iturbide (nee Kearney) (1872-1967) the widow of Prince
Agustín de Iturbide y Green (1863-1925), the grandson of Emperor Agustín (1783-1824)
and adopted son of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico (1832-1867).
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| Mary Louise de Iturbide |
Mr Alejandre pointed out that according to a genealogical note on the descendants of the Iturbide family within the papers of Prince Agustin and his wife Mary Louise it was written Prince Agustin’s cousin Prince Salvador de Iturbide y Marzan (1849-1895)“married an Italian lady had one daughter who died in infancy”.[i]
This is of course at odds with the widely published
information on the descendants of Prince Salvador which were published in the 1994
booklet The Imperial House of Mexico: the House of Iturbide by the
British genealogist David Williamson (1927-2003), with other writers
contributing other sections of the booklet. This genealogy suggested that Prince
Salvador had three daughters Maria Josepha Sophia (1872-1949), Maria Gizella
Anna (1874-1875) and Maria Terezia (1876-1915).
Prior to the 1994 booklet the only full published genealogy
I’m aware of that dealt with the Iturbide family was Burke’s Peerage of the
World Volume I Europe and Latin America, published in 1977, which recorded Prince Salvador
as having decessit sine prole (died without issue).[ii] The genealogist for the Burke’s book was, like the 1994 genealogy, David
Williamson.
Post 1994, genealogies have been published online at the now
defunct websites casaimperial.org which had been launched in 2004[iii] and its successor casaimperialdemexico.com which launched in 2024,[iv] both of which were based on the 1994 Williamson genealogy but with some updates
and differences. The royalark.net website also has the Iturbide genealogy in
its Mexico article and also cites the Williamson 1994 genealogy amongst its
sources.[v] The Genealogishes Handbuch des Adels also included some of these details in its
Götzen article which included the Götzen-Iturbide family due to their paternal
membership of this family.[vi]
All of these genealogies included the errors published in
the 1994 booklet which Josef and I highlighted in our previous article on the
Iturbide family, such as the year of birth of Maximilian von Gotzen-Iturbide,
his wife’s name, where and when they married and where their son Ferdinand was born.
It’s an indisputable fact that Prince Salvador was married
to the Hungarian baroness Gisela Mikos de Tarrodháza. Their marriage appears in
church records, news articles and genealogical publications like Gothaisches Genealogisches
Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser.[vii] Prince Salvador and Gisela also lived in Italy which may be why the genealogical
notes in Prince Agustin and Mary Louise's papers was erroneously of the impression his cousin’s wife was
Italian.
When looking into primary sources a church record exists for
the baptism of Maria Josepha Sophia, born 29 February 1872 as the daughter of Prince
Salvador and Gisela, and baptised 2 March with her godparents being her mother’s
brother and sister, Baron Johann Mikos de Tarrodháza and Baroness Olga Mikos de
Tarrodháza, and Princess Josefa de Iturbide, her father’s aunt.
However, what caused some surprise given the widely
published and repeated 1994 genealogy was what was written under the section
(Observations), “mortua est anno 1875 14 Februa” (She died on February 14,
1875). This date of death is usually given to Maria Gizella Anna de Iturbide,
the supposed second daughter of Prince Salvador and Gisela who according to the
1994 genealogy was born on 10 June 1874. The third daughter, Maria Terezia de Iturbide,
was recorded in the 1994 booklet as being born on 26 February 1876.
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| Baptism and death note of Maria Josepha Sophia de Iturbide |
I have not been able to locate baptism records for either a Maria Gizella Anna or a Maria Terezia and obituaries published at the time of Prince Salvador’s death make no mention of any children. Indeed his obituary in the Hungarian newspaper Fővárosi Lapok went so far as to state he was a childless prince.[viii] On 14 May 1900 at the Church of St Mary of the Angels in London, Prince Salvador’s widow Gisela was married to Count Emil von Jenison-Walworth, the witnesses were a Louise Jenison (presumably the sister of Count Emil) and a Jules Wierre.
Yet according to the 1994 genealogy Maria Josepha Sophia
de Iturbide survived into adulthood dying in 1949 having firstly married Baron
Johann Tunkl von Aschbrunn in 1908 and having two daughters by him, Maria Anna
Wilhelmina Adolphina (born 1909) and Maria Gizela Josepha Izabela (born 1912).
Unfortunately the Tunkl’s do not seem to appear in any genealogical directories
like the Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser.
There is conflicting information between the booklet
and website genealogies on whether the younger daughter Maria Gizela was married
twice or three times. Both daughters Maria Anna and Maria Gizela are cited in
the acknowledgements section of the 1994 booklet. According to the
website genealogies Maria Anna died in 1997 and Maria Gizela in 1999.
According to the website genealogies Maria Gizela was
married firstly in 1937 to a Croat, Ivo Mihailic who was killed in 1941 during
the Second World War, then married secondly in 1943 to Count Gustav von Götzen
who died in 1956, and thirdly to Ottavio Stefano della Porta in 1959.
The 1994 booklet genealogy makes no mention of the Mihailic
marriage noting just two marriages, first to Count Gustav von Götzen in 1940 (which
overlaps with the possible first marriage to Ivo Mihailic who apparently died in 1941) and
secondly the marriage to Ottavio Stefano della Porta in 1959.
However, when Count Gustav von Götzen was traveling to the
USA in December 1946, his arrival documents listed his marital status as
“single”. This is despite apparently having gotten married in either 1940 (booklet)
or 1943 (websites) to Maria Gizela.
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| 1946 US entry document for Count Gustav von Götzen |
Based on mine and Josef’s previous research and article we already know that Count Gustav’s son, Maximilian Gustav Richard Graf von Götzen-Iturbide was born in 1954 not 1944 as is widely believed based on the 1994 booklet and websites based on a primary source, the 1998 marriage certificate for his marriage to Annette Radtke, this document also named Count Gustav as his father. So it’s not unreasonable to suspect that his parents were actually married after 1946, if indeed they married at all. It’s worth noting that the genealogies in the booklet and the websites list a ‘younger sister’ for Maximilian called Emanuela Huberta Johanna Maria Gizela von Götzen-Iturbide who was supposedly born in 1945.
Count Gustav died in Caracas in 1956 as can be confirmed from official Venezuelan death records, unfortunately the record only lists his parents not any spouse or children.
I acquired the will of the late David Williamson to
see if I could trace what happened to his genealogical files. It turns out he
left his files to the Society of Genealogists and although, the society do hold
his bequeath, none of the files relate to the Iturbide family.
Through his art website maximiliangoetzen.com on 22 February 2026 I contacted this Maximilian Götzen who I believed to be Maximilian
Gustav Richard Graf von Götzen-Iturbide to ask if he wouldn’t mind clarifying
some of the apparent errors in the Iturbide family genealogy and referenced the website casaimperialdemexico.com and noted it
claims Maximilian von Götzen-Iturbide had provided photos and documents for it.
Asking if he could assist with my research into the Iturbide genealogy I asked if he could clarify/confirm:
- His actual year of birth as being 1954 not 1944
- His father was Maria Gustav Adolf Egon Graf von Götzen (1904-1956) and his mother was Maria Gizela Iturbide (1912-1999)
- When his parents married. Noting the conflicting information in the genealogy between the 1994 booklet and websites, and noting his father’s 1946 US entry document (which I sent as an attachment) suggested he was unmarried in 1946
- Who were the parents of his mother noting Maria Josepha Sophia de Iturbide supposedly died as an infant in 1875 per the church record (which I sent as an attachment) and if he perhaps has a different line of descent from the Mexican emperor Agustin de Iturbide.
In an article titled 'Prince Iturbide (Reminiscences)' published in the Hungarian newspaper Fővárosi Lapok in 1895 the author Tamas Szana wrote of Prince Salvador “I could never get him to say a single word about Mexico, his grandfather's imperial crown, or his claims to the throne.”[ix] Which seemed to be a family trait given the extreme privacy of the Götzen-Iturbide family.
As such while I did not particularly expect a reply, Maximilian Götzen did actually respond to my enquiry:
Dear Mr Corston
I have been asked this question before but as I am not related to any of the people you mention, I am afraid I cannot help you.
Good luck with your research
Max Götzen
I did
reply to the email to say as he seems to have been asked before
that he probably knows I was attempting to contact Maximillian Gustav Richard
Graf von Götzen-Iturbide, son of Maria Gustav Adolf Egon Graf von Götzen and
whose mother I noted seems to have been a Maria Gisella Iturbide citing to him information on the website of the Hungarian
company register for one of Maximilian von Götzen-Iturbide’s companies.[x]
I also noted that from my genealogical research I know this Maximilian Graf von Götzen-Iturbide was married to an Annette Radtke in 1998 and are the parents of a Ferdinand Graf von Götzen-Iturbide and an Isabella Grafin von Götzen-Iturbide. And noted an Annette Götzen, Ferdinand Götzen and Joliene van Grieken the wife of Ferdinand Götzen followed the Instagram account of this Maximilian Gotzen linked on his website and the account vice versa theirs. As such would he be able to put me in contact with them to assist with my research into the history of the Iturbide part of their full surname.
I definitely did not expect a further reply so was not surprised when one didn’t come. I also noticed a day or so after my follow up email that the website casaimperialdemexico.com was taken down.
Given Götzen’s seeming denial of any connection to the Iturbide family (or even Count Gustav von Götzen) it begs the question, was Williamson et al tricked in 1994 and the connection to Agustin de Iturbide made up? Or is there some sort of connection to the Iturbide family and the Götzen-Iturbide's just jealously guard their privacy and don't welcome any interest in their connection to the Iturbide family and are happy for erroreous information to be in circulation?
But given the evidence suggests Prince Salvador de Iturbide y Marzan died childless, being predeceased by his only daughter, there are many questions. Will we ever find out where the Iturbide part of the name Götzen-Iturbide comes from and how this mythical connection to Agustin de Iturbide seemingly came to light and took hold in 1994?
[i] Text on Iturbide III Adoption by Maximilian I, 1939 https://findingaids.lib.catholic.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/93486
[ii] Montgomery-Massingberd,
Hugh (ed.) (1977). ‘The Imperial Houses of Mexico’ in Burke’s
Royal Families of the World. Volume I Europe and Latin America. Burke’s
Peerage Ltd. p. 397. ISBN: 0850110238
[iii] CasaImperial.org. The Genealogy of the House of Iturbide. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20200225051215/http://www.casaimperial.org/genealogy.htm
[iv] Casaimperialdemexico.com. The Genealogy of the House of Iturbide. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20240908133506/https://www.casaimperialdemexico.com/genealogia/
[v] Buyers, Christopher. Mexico. Available at https://royalark.net/Mexico/mexico.htm (Accessed at: 18 April 2026)
[vi] Franke, Christoph and Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz, Moritz (ed.) (2000). ‘Götzen’ in Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels der Gräfliche Häuser. Volume 123. C. A. Starke Verlag. p. 150.
[vii] Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser (1879). Justus Perthes. p. 549
[viii] ‘Iturbide herczeg meghalt’ (9 March 1895). Fővárosi Lapok.
[ix] Szana, Tamás. (14 March 1895). ‘Iturbide herczeg (Visszaemlékezések.)’. Fővárosi Lapok.
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