Marie Zéphyrine of France
dauphin of France
Marie Zéphyrine of France (26 August 1750 – 2 September 1755) was a daughter (princess) of France as the daughter of Louis, Dauphin of France and Maria Josepha of Saxony and granddaughter of King Louis XV. She was known as la petite Madame.
Life
Marie Zéphyrine was born at the Palace of Versailles on the feast day of Pope Saint Zephyrinus after whom she would be named. Before her, the dauphine had given birth to two dead sons, which raised concerns about her ability to deliver healthy children. Maria Josepha was sent to the spa of Forges-les-Eaux to promote her fertility; the court hoped for a son to ensure the continuity of the House of Bourbon, as the dauphin was the only son of King Louis XV. A painting was even ordered to commemorate the birth of a healthy son in advance, which had to be re-touched when a girl was born instead. In the morning of 26 August, when the dauphine went into labour, the king was awakened and rushed to her room, as did 'all who were in Versailles'; some courtiers were present in their dressing gowns. When she was born at six in the evening, Marie Zéphyrine's sex caused general disappointment. Official festivities were ordered, but reportedly no 'joy' or 'pleasure' was displayed by Parisians.
According to the customs of her family, she was not fully baptised or named at birth. The short ceremony of ondoiement was performed by the grand almoner of France, Cardinal de Soubise. It consisted only of the sprinkling of holy water accompanied by the formula 'I thee baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit'.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2556465. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1750 and 1755.
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This entry incorporates text from “Marie Zéphyrine of France” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.