Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia

Infobox Monarch
name =Alexander Karađorđević
title =Prince of Serbia


coronation =
reign =September 14, 1842 – December 23, 1858
predecessor =Mihailo III (Obrenović)
successor =Miloš I (Obrenović)
queen =Persida Nenadovic
issue =Petar I Karađorđević
royal house =House of Karađorđević
father =Karađorđe Petrović
mother =Jelena Jovanovic
date of birth =October 11, 1806
place of birth =Topola
date of death =May 3, 1885
place of death =Temesvár|

Aleksandar Karađorđević (Serbian Cyrillic Александар Карађорђевић) (October 11, 1806– May 3, 1885) was the prince of Serbia between 1842 and 1858. He was a member of the House of Karađorđević.

Early life

The youngest son of Karađorđe Petrović and Jelena was born in Topola on 11 October 1806. He was educated in Khotin, Bessarabia (Russia), under the patronage of the Russian Tsar. In 1830 he married Persida, daughter of vojvoda (chieftain) Jevrem Nenadovic. They had nine children: daughters Poleksija, Kleopatra, Jelena and Jelisaveta and sons Aleksij, Svetozar, Andrej (all three of them died as young children), Petar and Arsen.

After the Sultan’s decree acknowledging the title of Prince Mihailo Obrenovic at the end of 1839, the family returned to Serbia. Alexander joined the Headquarters of the Serbian Army, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and appointed as adjutant to Prince Mihailo.

Prince of Serbia

After the political conflicts caused by disrespect of the so called “Turkish constitution”, and Milos’s and then Mihajlo Obrenovic’s abdications, Alexander Karađorđević was elected the Prince of Serbia at the National Assembly in Vracar on 14 September 1842. Having had his title acknowledged by Russia and Turkey, Prince Alexander started the reforms and founded a number of new institutions in order to improve the progress of the Serbian state. He implemented the code of civil rights, introduced the regular Army, built a canon foundry, improved the existing schools and founded new ones, National Library and National Museum.

During the Hungarian revolution in Vojvodina in 1848, Prince Alexander Karađorđević sent Serbian volunteers under the command of Stevan Knicanin to help the Serbs’ struggle for autonomy. As a follow-up of the national-political movement in 1848, the pan-slavistic idea of a Yugoslav Monarchy emerged, and with the “Nacertanije” (the “Draft”) document, written as a Serbian political program by Ilija Garasanin four years earlier, it made the mission of liberating all Southern Slavs from Austrian and Turkish domination become the stand point of Serbian foreign policy.

Abdication

In internal policy Prince Alexander came into conflict with the members of the Council, which culminated in the convocation of the national assembly on St. Andrew’s day in December 1858, which forced him to abdicate.

After his abdication, Prince Alexander withdrew to his property near Timişoara. His peaceful life was agitated by the accusation of providing the weapons and money for the conspiracy in Prince Mihailo’s assassination. He was deeply hurt by the verdict for a deed he had never committed. Dynastic struggles became more severe and it was only then that Prince Alexander took part in them. He detested the thought of the hideous deed that was imputed to him by his opponents and fought with all his strength to bring another Karađorđević to the throne.

Prince Alexander died in Timişoara on May 3, 1885. He was buried in Vienna, and his earthly remains were moved in 1912 to the Memorial Church of St. George built by his son Petar I Karađorđević in Oplenac.