Sophie and Ludwig. |
The engagement of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Sophie Evekink was recently announced.
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, the eldest son and third child of Prince Luitpold (b.1951) and Princess Beatrix of Bavaria (b.1951; née Wiegand), was born at Landsberg am Lech on 14 June 1982. The prince spent his childhood at Schloss Kaltenberg with his parents and siblings. Ludwig attended the Rhabanus-Maurus-Gymnasium St. Ottilien in Eresing, Bavaria. From a young age, Ludwig showed an interest in technology and founded his own IT company at the age of eighteen. The prince then went on to study law and eventually received his juris doctorate. Thereafter, Ludwig spent a period of time under the tutelage of Duke Franz of Bavaria at Schloss Nymphenburg. As Head of House, the Duke has worked to guarantee that the prince, who is currently fourth in line to the Bavarian royal house after Duke Franz, Duke Max, and Prince Luitpold, will be adequately prepared to assume the duties that will be his when he becomes head of the royal family. Currently, Prince Ludwig runs the charitable foundation Hilfsverein Nymphenburg. Since 2011, he is mainly involved in East Africa and the country of Kenya, in particular. Through Hilfsverein Nymphenburg, Ludwig is engaged in fostering nutrition programs and social projects for children. Prince Ludwig lives ten months of the year in East Africa and two months in Bavaria, where he carries out representative duties on behalf of the Royal House. Along with Benedikt Wahler, Ludwig co-founded Startup Lions in 2015, which is described as follows on its website: “We are an impact sourcing digital service provider, and innovative startup incubator. We offer clients high quality outsourcing services in IT & Media tasks, simple and repetitive ones but also more complex creative and technical ones in the field of programming, graphic design and video and music production. We enable the youth living in rural, economically depressed regions of East Africa, to develop their talent and make a career while staying in their home regions.” Ludwig serves as CEO of Startup Lions, which is based in Turkana in northern Kenya.
Sophie-Alexandra Evekink was born in 1989 in Singapore to a Dutch patrician family. She is a dual Canadian-Dutch citizen. Sophie gradated with a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and East European Studies from University College London. Sophie works for the World Health Organisation in Geneva. She is currently a obtaining a Doctorate of Philosophy in Criminology from Oxford. Sophie has published two peer-reviewed articles:
"Retributive or Restorative? Prospects for Justice for Those Who Live Side by Side with Their Aggressors" and "Youth to Parent Violence: A More Complex Form of Family Violence?". Sophie Evekink is the daughter of Dorus E. Evekink (b.1941), a lecturer/program manager at Maastricht School of Business; she has at least two older brothers, Huibert Evekink and Paul Evekink.
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