Order of St Alexander

Order of St Alexander
Order of St Alexander
Орден Св. Александръ с голямо огърлие.jpg
Order of St Alexander Grand Necklace
Awarded by The Bulgarian monarch
Type Order
Eligibility Bulgarian and foreign citizens
Awarded for Awarded with the personal benevolence of the monarch
Status Abolished on 15 September 1946
Statistics
Established 21 December 1881
Precedence
Next (higher) Order of St St Cyril and Methodius
Equivalent None
Next (lower) Order of Civil Merit
Пластина на орден „Св. Александръ“.jpg
The ribbon

The Order of St Alexander (Bulgarian: Орден "Свети Александър") was the second highest Bulgarian order during the Kingdom of Bulgaria. It was established by Knyaz Alexander I and named after his patron saint (Alexander Nevsky).

Contents

History

The order was established with a decree on 25 December 1881 in honour of the patron saint of Alexander Batenberg. Initially it was planned to have five grades and a Necklace but subsequently four grades and Grand and Lesser Necklace were formed and in 1908 a Grand Cross was added. With time wartime grades with swords in the middle and above the cross were added. The order was awarded to Bulgarian and foreign citizens with the personal benevolence of the Bulgarian monarch, who was the Grand Master.

Description

The order had a while enamelled maltese cross with golden or silver edges according to the grade. On the pendant of the obverse there was a stylized inscription with the name of the order and on the surrounding ring there was the motto СЪ НАМИ БОГЪ (God with us) with laurel wreaths below. On the reverse there was a while background with inscription 19 ФЕВРАЛЪ 1878 (18 February 1878) - the date of the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano. Atop the cross was a royal crown. The first grade was worn with a crimson moire ribbon over the right shoulder with a rosette in the edge. It had its own eight-ray sliver star with the obverse of the order placed in the middle.

The Grand necklace consisted of thirty interconnected medallions with crowned lions, alternated with the monogram of the founder Knyaz Alexander I and eight edges Orthodox Cross. There was a special issue with two field marshal's batons which belonged to Tsar Ferdinand.

The Lesser Necklace was similar to the Grand Necklace but in smaller size.

The Grand Cross, established in 1908, was also similar to the initial issue but the cross was enamelled in green and in the middle of the pendant was placed a crowned Bulgarian lion. The star was of similar design with green ring around the crowned lion on red background.

The other grades are like the first issue but smaller in size. The sixth grade was made in silver without enamel over the shoulders of the cross.

The Ottoman sultans Abdul Hamid II and Mehmed V were respectively awarded the Grand and Lesser Necklace of the Order of St Alexander with diamonds. They are currently kept in the collection of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.

Grades

  • Great Cross of the Order of St Alexander, Grand and Lesser Necklace
  • I grade, Grand Cross. Awarded to senior state officers and military personnel.It was worn with a scarf over the shoulder.
  • II grade, Grand Officer Cross. The cross was with white enamel, it was worn with red ribbon and had a star.
  • III grade, Commander Cross. The cross was with white or green enamel (according to the emission), it was worn with red ribbon and had no star.
  • IV grade, Officer Cross. The cross was with white enamel, it was worn on the chest with triangle red ribbon with rosette, it had no star.
  • V grade, Officer Cross. The cross was with white enamel, it was worn on the chest with triangle red ribbon, it had no star.
  • VI grade, Silver Cross. The cross was made of silver with no enamel, it was worn on the chest with triangle red ribbon, it had no star.

Gallery

Recipients of the order

  • Zahari Stoyanov (1850–1899) - I grade (2 August 1889)
  • General of the Infantry Danail Nikolaev (1852–1942) - I grade with diamonds (1907)
  • General of the Infantry Racho Petrov (1861–1942) - I grade without swords
  • Lieutenant General Radko Dimitriev (1859–1918) - I grade with swords
  • General of the Infantry Nikola Ivanov (1861–1940) - I grade with diamonds
  • Lieutenant General Kiril Botev (1856–1944) - I grade with swords
  • Major General Sava Mutkurov (1852–1891) - I grade without swords
  • General of the Infantry Stiliyan Kovachev (1860–1939) - I grade without swords
  • General of the Infantry Nikola Zhekov (1865–1949) - I grade with swords
  • General of the Infantry Georgi Todorov (1858–1934) - I grade with swords
  • General of the Infantry Stefan Toshev (1859–1924) - I grade with swords
  • Lieutenant General Mihail Savov (1857–1928) - I grade with swords
  • General of the Infantry Vasil Kutinchev (1859–1941) - I grade with swords
  • General of the Infantry Velizar Lazarov (1868–1941) - I grade
  • Lieutenant General Stefan Tsanev (1881–1944) - I grade without swords

Sources

  • „Каталог Български ордени и медали“. Веселин Денков
  • „Българските ордени и медали 1878 - 2002“. Тодор Петров
  • „Ордени и медали в България“. 1998 Тодор Петров
  • „Българска Енциклопедия от А-Я“. 2005 Авторски колектив към БАН

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Order of St. Alexander Nevsky — For the Bulgarian military honor, see Order of St Alexander. The Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was planned by Emperor… …   Wikipedia

  • Order of Alexander Nevsky — The Order of Alexander Nevsky Awarded by the …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander Konstantinovich Benckendorff — Count Alexander Konstantinovich Benckendorf (Russian: Александр Константинович Бенкендорф)(1 August 1849 – 11 January 1917) was a Russian diplomat, who served as ambassador to Denmark and the United Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander Imeretinsky — Alexander Konstantinovich Bagration Imeretinsky ( pl. Aleksandr Imeretyński, ru. Александр Константинович Багратион Имеретинский, ka. ალექსანდრე კონსტანტინეს ძე ბაგრატიონ იმერეტინსკი) (24 September 1837 17 November 1900) was a Georgian Russian… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander Chaplin — (* 20. März 1971 in New York City als Alexander Gaberman) ist ein US amerikanischer Schauspieler. Er wurde vor allem bekannt durch seine Rolle als James Horbert in der Sitcom Chaos City. Chaplin wurde am Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alexander Rozhenko — Star Trek character|if=|Title = Alexander Rozhenko bgcolor = #ff0000 Species = 3/4 Klingon (through father and mother mother was 1/2 Klingon) 1/4 human (through mother) Gender = Male Birth = 2366 Affiliation = Klingon Empire Position = Portrayed …   Wikipedia

  • Order of St. Andrew — This article is about the Russian honour. For the Barbados honour, see Order of Barbados. For the Eastern Orthodox Christian honour, see Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Star and Badge of the Order of St. Andrew on its light blue… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander III of Russia — Alexander III Photograph by Sergey Levitsky Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias Reign 13 March 1881 – 1 November 1894 ( 100000 …   Wikipedia

  • Order of Friars Minor —     Order of Friars Minor     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Order of Friars Minor     (Also known as FRANCISCANS.) This subject may be conveniently considered under the following heads:     I. General History of the Order;     A. First Period (1209… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Order of Preachers —     Order of Preachers     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Order of Preachers     As the Order of the Friars Preachers is the principal part of the entire Order of St. Dominic, we shall include under this title the two other parts of the order: the… …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”