… was Eugenie Hortense Auguste de Beauharnais. She married the Prince of Prussia, Constantine Hohenxollern-Hechinger to become Princess of Prussia.
They built the lovely Villa Eugenia for her in Hechingen. In 1843, Eugenie was well known for her patronage of music & musicians. Hechingen had a lovely vocal choir, and she would often invite composer Franz Liszt to perform at the Villa.
Constantine & Eugenie had no children, so Eugenie became increasingly pious through the years & spent her time building a home for the elderly and a “little town” for children that was basically the predecessor of today’s daycare for working parents.
She helped her father-in-law through his war injuries & illness, & herself contracted tuberculosis, from which she eventually died. The doctors tried to save her by burning manure chips on her chest, & isolating her from all people.
(Feature: Eugenie, 2nd child of Eugene & Auguste (son-law of Napoleon I); below: a bust of Eugenie in Hechingen, and her beloved Villa Eugenia)
