Elias I, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (Italian: Elia di Borbone-Parma; 23 July 1880 – 27 June 1959) was the head of the House of Bourbon-Parma and pretender to the defunct throne of Parma between 1950 and 1959. From 1907 to 1950, he served as regent for the claims of his two older disabled brothers.
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Early life
Elias was born at Biarritz, the youngest son of the deposed Duke Robert I of Parma and his first wife Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (daughter of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies).
Despite the loss of the throne, his father Robert enjoyed considerable wealth. They owned castles at Schwarzau am Steinfeld near Vienna in Austria, Villa Pianore, between Pietrasanta and Viareggio in Italy, and the magnificent Château de Chambord in France (up until its confiscation in World War I).
Marriage and family
On 25 May 1903 at Vienna, Elias married Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (1882–1940), daughter of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen, and a niece of Queen Maria Cristina of Spain. They had eight children, though only one of them married and had issue:
Princess Elisabetta of Bourbon-Parma (17 March 1904 – 13 June 1983); she died unmarried.