Maria Leopoldina Josepha Caroline of Habsburg, archduchess of Austria, was born in 1797 in Vienna, Austria. She was the daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and his second wife, Maria Theresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Among her many siblings were Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria and Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

In 1817 she married Peter, heir to the throne of Portugal. Leopoldine was very cultured, and she took many researchers and biologists (including Johann Natterer) with her to Brazil, where the Portuguese Court lived in exile during the Napoleonic Wars.

Leopoldine gave Peter 7 children:

• Queen Maria II da Glória of Portugal, following Peter's devotion to Our Lady of Glória
• Michael (1820)
• John Charles (1821-1822)
• Januária (1822-1901), named after the city of Rio de Janeiro, married Prince Louis of Two Sicilies (b.1824-d.1897), son of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies.
• Paula Mariana (1823-1833)
• Frances Caroline (1824-1898) married François d'Orleans, prince of Joinville (1818-1900), son of Louis-Philippe King of the French.
• Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825-1891), marriedPrincess Teresa of the Two Sicilies (b.1822-d.1889), the youngest daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies.

She died in 1826, after a miscarriage.

The biggest railway station in Rio de Janeiro, is named Imperatriz Leopoldina after her.