Maria Theresia von Österreich (Habsburg)

Maria Theresia von Habsburg reigned – first with her husband Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen and later with her son Joseph II. – from 1740 to 1780 as Archduchess of Austria (Empress from 1745). As a regent Maria Theresia undertook comprehensive reforms in education policy, which dissolved the University of Vienna from the influence of the Jesuit Order and transferred it to state control. Gerard van Swieten reformed medical education, which laid the foundation for the international importance of the Vienna School of Medicine. In 1755, the University of Maria Theresia received a new building, the "New Aula" (now the seat of the Academy of Sciences).

> Short biography in German