Rudolf

Rudolf, 1858–89, Austrian archduke, crown prince of Austria and Hungary; only son of Emperor Francis Joseph and Empress Elizabeth. Upon his mysterious death at Mayerling near Vienna (officially declared a double suicide with his mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera), his cousin Francis Ferdinand became heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

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Rudolf

(born Aug. 21, 1858, Schloss Laxenburg, near Vienna, Austria—died Jan. 30, 1889, Schloss Mayerling, near Vienna) Archduke and crown prince of Austria. The son of Emperor Francis Joseph, he received a broad education and traveled widely. As heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, he hoped to bring reform to the empire, but his liberal views alienated his father, and he was excluded from the business of government. From 1881 he considered having himself crowned king of Hungary and reviving a kingdom of Poland. He then became despondent and allegedly formed a suicide pact with his mistress, Maria Vetsera; the two were found shot dead in the hunting lodge at Mayerling. Efforts to disguise the facts provoked many rumours, while romantic writers found inspiration in the story.

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Rudolf¹, Rudolph

1858--89, archduke of Austria, son of emperor Franz Joseph: he and his mistress committed suicide at the royal hunting lodge in Mayerling

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Rudolf²

Lake. the former name (until 1979) of (Lake) Turkana

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Rudolf 

(Turkana since 1975), a brackish, undrained lake in Kenya, East Africa. Located in a tectonic depression at an elevation of 375 m, Lake Rudolf is 220 km long, is up to 50 km wide and 73 m deep, and has an area of 8,500 sq km. The large Omo River with its permanent flow and a number of seasonally dry rivers (the Turkwel, Kerio, and others) empty into it. The active Teleki Volcano is at its south end. Hippopotamuses are common. Crocodiles and about 40 species of fish inhabit Lake Rudolf. There is fishing on the lake. Lake Rudolf was discovered in 1888 by the Hungarian S. Teleki and the Austrian L. von Höhnel and named after the crown prince of Austria-Hungary.