Captain Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza MC (; 9 August 1881 – 29 November 1918) was a Brazilian-born prince of the House of Orléans-Braganza and a military officer who served with distinction in the forces of the British Empire during World War I.
A member of the former Brazilian imperial family, Prince Antônio Gastão volunteered for service with the British Army during the war and rose to the rank of captain. He was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in action, becoming one of the few members of a deposed royal house to receive a British military decoration during the conflict.
Life Antônio was born in Paris, the third and last son of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, and her husband Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu. His father was a grandson of the last king of France, Louis Philippe I, and his mother was the eldest daughter and heiress of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. He was baptised on 27 August 1881. His full name was Antônio Gastão Luiz Filipe Francisco de Assis Maria Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga; his family affectionately called him "Totó".Barman, p. 212
After his grandfather was deposed in a military coup in Brazil, he and his family were sent into exile in Europe. As a child he was chronically sick with bronchitis.Barman, pp. 176, 212 He was educated in Paris, and at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.Barman, p. 220 After graduation, he was a Hussar lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army between 1908 and 1914.
When World War I broke out, Antônio was prevented from joining the French armed forces by a law that forbade members of the deposed French royal family from serving in the military.Barman, p. 229 Instead, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Dragoons where he served attached to the Royal Flying Corps as intelligence officer. He was promoted to captain in 1916, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. He was aide-de-camp to the commander of the Canadian Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General Seely, from February 1917 until May 1918, and then was seconded for duty with the War Office in July. Substituted for notice in
Antônio died from injuries sustained in an air crash at Edmonton, London, shortly after the end of the war.Barman, p. 230 His remains were placed in the Royal Chapel of Dreux, in France.
Honors Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pedro I Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Rose Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Christ Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Rising Sun Knight of the Legion of Honour of France
Ancestry
External links
Royal Canadian Dragoons service file
References