Maria Adelaide de Bragança

In 1949, Princess Maria Adelaide settled in Portugal. Meanwhile, her husband graduated in medicine from the University of Vienna and specialized in diseases of the skin. But when Dr. Nicolaas van Uden arrived in Portugal his qualifications were not recognised as equivalent to the Portuguese ones, and therefore he could not practice medicine. As there was no other solution, he went to work for a small research laboratory at the Faculty of Science and stayed there for several years, until the opportunity to work in partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation arose. Due to such a collaboration the Gulbenkian Science Institute was born and it promotes scientific research in various areas since the 1950s to date.

Princess Maria Adelaide was born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France. Her godparents were King Manuel II, the last reigning king of Portugal (deposed in 1910), and his mother Queen Amélie. She was educated at the Sacre Coeur College in Riedenburg, Germany. She was married in Vienna, 13 October 1945, to Dr. Nicolaas van Uden (Venlo, 5 March 1921 – Lisbon, 5 February 1991) who was Dutch and who became a naturalized Portuguese citizen in 1975. Son of Adrian van Uden (Gerwen, 7 May 1893 – 24 December 1959) and wife Cornelia Antonia Baaijeens (Gorinchem, 7 September 1897 – 15 June 1979), daughter of Nicolaas Baaijeens and wife Helena Dam, Nicolaas van Uden was a medical biochemist and a great scientific authority in the field of yeast development.

Princess Dona Maria Adelaide of Braganza, Infanta of Portugal GOM (31 January 1912 – 24 February 2012) was a member of the royal house of Braganza, daughter of Miguel, Duke of Braganza and Princess Maria Theresa of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg.