FREDERICK AUGUSTUS II. king of Sax ony, eldest son of Prince Maximilian and of Caroline Maria The resa of Parma, was born on May 18, 1797, at Dresden. He was twice married-in 1819 (October 7) to the duchess Caroline, fourth daughter of the emperor Francis I. of Austria (d. May 22, 1832) , and in 1833 (April 4) to Maria, daughter of Maximilian I. of Bavaria. There were no children of either marriage. In 1830 a rising in Dresden led to his being named joint regent of the king dom along with King Antony, and on June 6, 1836, he succeeded his uncle. Frederick Augustus was at first in favour of the pro gramme of German unity put forward at Frankfort in 1848, but he refused to acknowledge the democratic constitution of the Ger man parliament. This attitude led to the insurrection at Dresden in May 1849, which was suppressed by the help of Prussian troops. Count Beust, leader of the Austrian and feudal party in Saxony, became his principal minister and guided his policy. He died in consequence of a carriage accident near Brennbiihel, between Imst and Wenns in Tirol (August 9, 1854). Frederick Augustus was a keen botanist, and wrote Flora Marienbadensis, oder Pflanzen and Gebirgsarten, gesaynrnelt and besclirieben (Prague, 1837).
See Bottiger-Flathe, History of Saxony, vol. iii.; R. Freiherr von Friesen, Erinnernngen (Dresden, 1881) ; F. F. Graf von Beust, Aus drei-viertel Jahrhunderten (1887) ; Flathe, in Allg. deutsche Biogr.