Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia

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Alexander Karađorđević
Prince of Serbia
Reign	14 September 1842 – 23 December 1858
Born	11 October 1806
Birthplace	Topola
Died	3 May 1885
Place of death	Temesvár
Predecessor	Mihailo III (Obrenović)
Successor	Miloš I (Obrenović)
Consort	Persida Nenadovic
Offspring	Petar I Karađorđević
Royal House	House of Karađorđević
Father	Karađorđe Petrović
Mother	Jelena Jovanovic

Aleksandar Karađorđević (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Карађорђевић) (11 October 1806 – 3 May 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 (15 February 1813-29 March 1873), daughter of vojvoda (duke) Jevrem Nenadovic. They had ten children;

• Poleksija (1 February 1833-5 December 1914)
• Kleopatra (26 November 1835-13 July 1855)
• Aleksij (23 March 1836-21 April 1841)
• Svetozar (1841-17 March 1847)
• Petar (29 June 1844-16 August 1921)
• Jelena (18 October 1846-26 July 1867); married Đorđe Simić
• Andrej (15 September 1848-12 July 1864)
• Jelisaveta (born & died 1850)
• Djordje (11 October 1856-5 Jan 1889)
• Arsen (16 April 1859-1938)

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 Miloš Obrenović's and then Mihailo Obrenović's abdications, Aleksandar Karađorđević was elected the Prince of Serbia at the National Assembly in Vračar, a municipality in modern Belgrade, on 14 September 1842. Having had his title acknowledged by Russia and Turkey, Prince Aleksandar 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 cannon foundry, improved the existing schools and founded new ones, as well as established National Library and National Museum.

During the Hungarian Revolution in Vojvodina, in 1848, Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević sent Serbian volunteers under the command of Stevan Knićanin to help the Serbs’ struggle for autonomy. As a follow-up of the national-political movements of 1848, the pan-slavistic idea of a Yugoslav Monarchy emerged. The "Načertanije" (the "Draft") document, written as a Serbian political program by Ilija Garašanin four years earlier, made the mission of replacing the Austrian and Turkish domination of all Southern Slavs with the Serbian rule under the banner of "Greater Serbia."

Abdication

In internal policy Prince Aleksandar 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 Aleksandar 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 Obrenović’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^{[citation needed]} that Prince Aleksandar 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 3 May 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, Central Serbia.