.
Eleonora Maria Teresa di Savoia was the second child and eldest daughter of
Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia and his second wife, the German
Polyxena of the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg. She was born at the Royal Palace of Turin, the city residence of the Savoyard royal family. She received the forename of her maternal grandmother,
Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort. Her maternal cousins included
Victor Amadeus II, Prince of Carignano and his younger sister the future
princesse de Lamballe, both of which were born at the court of Savoy. Her paternal cousins included
Ferdinand VI, who was king of Spain at the time of her birth. She was born to a relatively happy marriage between her parents. Her paternal grandmother
Anne Marie d'Orléans died in August 1728 when Eleonora was six months old. Her mother died in 1735 when Eleonora was six. Thus she was the highest ranking female at the Savoyard court until the marriage of her brother, the future
Victor Amadeus III to the Spanish Infanta
Maria Antonietta in 1750. Eleonora, and her sister
Maria Luisa, were proposed as brides for
Louis, Dauphin of France, eldest son of King
Louis XV, who was their first cousin. The marriage never materialised due to marriage negotiations with the Spanish which led to the dauphin marrying
Maria Teresa, an older sister of Maria Antonietta in 1744. Her two nieces, Princesses
Maria Giuseppina and
Maria Teresa would later marry
two sons of Louis, Dauphin of France in 1771 and 1773 respectively. The spinster princess died at the
Castle of Moncalieri, Turin at the age of 53. She was buried in the
Royal Basilica of Superga overlooking Turin. Her sister in law
Maria Antonietta died at Moncalieri in 1785. ==Ancestry==