Louisa Treniotis

Louisa Treniotis
Empress of Sunrosia and her constituent realms
Reign	25 December 1921 – 8 January 1922
Predecessor	Adalbert XX
Successor	Monarchy abolished
Chancellor	Kaspar von Stenhofen
Born	Louisa Johanna Georgiana Theresa Elisabeth (1914-11-30)30 November 1914 Coerz, Grand Duchy of Sunrosia, Sunrosian Monarchy
Died	5 July 2010(2010-07-05) (aged 95) Spálgleann, Caldia
House	Windenheim-Treniotis
Father	Adalbert XX
Mother	Sylviane of Gaullica
Religion	Solarian Catholic
Occupation	Linguist, author

Louisa Treniotis (born Louisa Johanna Georgiana Theresa Elisabeth; 30 November 1914 – 5 July 2010) was the second female and final ruler of the Sunrosian Monarchy and and all of its constituent states for fifteeen days as Louisa. She took the name of Louisa Treniotis after her abdication, by which she become known for her linguistic work on sign languages, particularly on the Swetanian general sign language, and her disability rights activism. Louisa achieved popular recognition as "the Fortnight Queen" following the publication of her eponymous first autobiography in 1955.

Born with congenital muteness, Louisa was the only child of Adalbert XX and Sylviane of Gaullica and was merely seven when she succeeded her father following his death on 25 December 1921. Ascending to the throne in the midst of the Swetanian Revolution at a time by which most cities have already been lost to revolutionary forces, Louisa reigned only nominally as Empress for before the proclamation of the Panswetanian Council Republic brought an end to monarchical rule. She fled the country with her mother and close family members, first to neighbouring Werania and then to Caldia.

In exile in Caldia, Louisa continued her education and earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Spálgleann. From 1930, she also attended Saint Agathe's School for the Deaf where she learned Caldish sign language and later met Deirdre Ní Síoda, who became her interpreter and lifelong companion. Having no interest in her restoration to the Sunrosian throne, she formally abdicated and renounced her claims on 9 January 1936 and remained in Caldia to continue her research on sign languages, eventually getting awarded with a PhD in linguistics in 1946. Louisa married Ní Síoda on 24 August 1941.

Louisa returned to her homeland (now Swetania) in 1957 after relinquishing her last noble titles, the first member of the former House of Windenheim to be allowed to do so. Continuing her linguistic work here, she was a member of the Committee for a Common Sign Language responsible for the standardisation of the Swetanian general sign language in the 60s. Louisa also became a prominent voice for the rights of people with disabilities in Swetania and internationally, as well as an advocate for Caldish-Swetanian friendship and cooperation. She moved back to Caldia in 1995, where she died fifteen years later.

Early life

Princess Louisa Johanna in November 1921, a month before her reign

Birth

Louisa was born in the night of the 30 November 1914 in the Palace of the Grand Dukes in Coerz, then the capital of the Sunrosian Monarchy. She was the daughter of the ruling Sunriosan monarch Adalbert XX and Sylviane of Gaullica, a granddaughter of Albert III of Gaullica. She was baptised Louisa Johanna Georgiana Theresa Elisabeth on December 6 by the Archbishop of Coerz Johann de Weilbourg at the Coerz Cathedral. Her godfather was her maternal grandfather Philippe of Gaullica; her godmother was his paternal grandmother Georgiana of Estmere.

Being the first and only child of Adalbert XX, she became heir presumptive at birth according to the 1856 Edict of Succession. She held the title and style of "Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess of Sunrosia and Her constituent realms". Her second name of Johanna was chosen to promote the choice of the regnal name Johanna VIII in continuation of the previous and only female Sunrosian monarch, Johanna VII Josepha, if she ever ascended to the throne.

The public announcement of her birth was received with joy throughout the country - despite still suffering from the consequences of the Great Collapse, Adalbert XX remained a popular figure thanks of his steadfast support of the Constitutional Chart. In liberal and social circles, the news also brought relief as it meant that the former heir presumptive Prince Johann Friedrich, Adalbert XX's uncle noted for his conservative if not reactionary tendencies, was pushed one step back on the order of succession