Princess Maria Elisabeth of Bavaria (German: Prinzessin Maria Elisabeth Franziska Josepha Therese von Bayern; 9 September 1914 – 13 May 2011), nicknamed "Empress-mother", was a German princess of the House of Wittelsbach, granddaughter of King Louis III of Bavaria and wife of Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, the pretender of the Vassouras branch as Head of the Imperial House of Brazil.

The times in Germany between the wars (1918–1938) were difficult, due to the Great Depression of 1929 and the rise of the Nazis, and Adolf Hitler in the German government.

On 19 August 1937 Princess Maria Elisabeth married Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, head of one of the branches of the Imperial House of Brazil.

The couple lived first in France; although they made numerous attempts to immigrate to Brazil, they were prevented by World War II.

In 2004, a Mass honoring her 90th birthday was celebrated by the abbot emeritus of St. Benedict of Rio de Janeiro, Jose Palmeiro Mendes, and co-celebrated by priests Sérgio Costa Couto, judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro and chaplain of the Glory of the Outeiro, and Jorge Luis Pereira da Silva at the Church of Imperial Brotherhood of Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro, in Rio de Janeiro.