Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia

Prince Mihailo Obrenović Кнез Михаило Обреновић
Prince of Serbia
Reign	July 8, 1839 - September 14, 1842 and September 26, 1860 – June 10, 1868
Born	September 16, 1823(1823-09-16)
Birthplace	Kragujevac
Died	June 10, 1868(1868-06-10) (aged 44)
Place of death	Belgrade
Predecessor	Milan II (Obrenović) Miloš I (Obrenović)
Successor	Alexander (Karađorđević) Milan IV (Obrenović)
Consort	Julia Hunyady de Kéthely
Royal House	House of Obrenović
Father	Miloš Obrenović I
Mother	Ljubica Vukomanović

Mihailo Obrenović (Serbian: Михаило Обреновић ; September 16, 1823 – June 10, 1868) was Prince of Serbia from 1839–1842 and again from 1860–1868. His first reign ended when he was deposed in 1842 and his second when he was assassinated in 1868.

Early life and first reign

Mihailo was the son of Prince Miloš Obrenović (1780–1860) and his wife Ljubica Vukomanović (1788–1843, Vienna). He was born in Kragujevac, the second surviving son of the couple. His elder brother Milan was born in 1819 but was frequently in poor health. He is stated as being the most enlightened ruler of modern Serbia ^[1]. He advocated the idea of a Balkan federation against the Ottoman Empire.

Initially, Prince Miloš, abdicated in favour of his first born Milan II, who was by then terminally ill. But it was Mihailo who came to the throne as a minor, having been born in 1823, and acclaimed prince on June 25, 1839, upon the abdication of his father. He was declared of full age the following year. Few thrones appeared more secure, and his rule might have endured throughout his life but for his want of energy and inattention to the signs of the times.

In 1842 his reign came to a halt when he was overthrown by a rebellion led by Toma Vučić-Perišić, which enabled the Karađorđević dynasty to accede to the Serbian throne. Eleven years later, Mihailo married Countess Julia Hunyady de Kéthely (26 August 1831– 19 February 1919), the daughter of Count Ferenc Hunyady de Kéthely and Countess Julia Zichy de Zich and Vasonkeo. The marriage was childless; although he did have at least one illegitimate child by a mistress whose identity has not been ascertained.

Second reign and Assassination

The statue of Prince Mihailo on Republic Square in Belgrade.

Finally, Mihailo was accepted back as prince of Serbia in September 1860 after the death of his father who had regained the throne in 1858. For the next eight years he ruled as an enlightened absolutist monarch.

He had wished to divorce his wife, Julia in order to marry his young mistress, Katarina Konstantinovic, who was the daughter of his first cousin, Princess Anka Obrenovic. Both resided at the royal court at his invitation. His plans for a divorce and subsequent remarriage to Katarina had met with much protest from politicians, the clergy, as well as the general public. His astute and gifted Prime Minister Ilija Garasanin was dismissed from his post in 1867 for daring to voice his opposition to the divorce. Due to an unforeseen event, however, his divorce from Julia never took place.

On 10 June 1868, Mihailo was walking through the park of Košutnjak, near his country residence on the outskirts of Belgrade, with Katarina and her mother, Princess Anka,^[1] when they were shot by assassins. Mihailo and Anka were both killed, and Katarina was wounded in the assassination which was the result of a plot that has never been sufficiently clarified. The Karađorđevićs were suspected of being behind the crime but there is not much proof to corroborate this.

Anka's granddaughter Natalija Konstantinović was married in 1902 to the Montenegrin Prince Mirko Petrović-Njegoš (1879–1918) whose sister Zorka had married King Petar Karađorđević I in 1883.

Notes

1. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica - Michael III

See also

• Treaty of Vöslau

References

1. ^ Celia Hawkesworth, Voices in the Shadows: Women and Verbal Art in Serbia and Bosnia, Google Books, 2000, retrieved 16 June 2010

External links

• http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/obren.html

Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia House of Obrenović Born: 16 September 1823 Died: 10 June 1868
Regnal titles
Preceded by Milan Obrenović II	Prince of Serbia 1839—1842	Succeeded by Aleksandar Karađorđević
Preceded by Miloš Obrenović I	Prince of Serbia 1860—1868	Succeeded by Milan Obrenović IV

Persondata
Name	Obrenovic, Mihailo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 16, 1823
Place of birth	Kragujevac
Date of death	June 10, 1868
Place of death	Belgrade