Persida Nenadović

Persida Nenadović

Portrait by Uroš Knežević, 1855
Princess consort of Serbia
Tenure 14 September 1842- 24 October 1858
Spouse Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia
Issue Princess Poleksija
Princess Kleopatra
Prince Aleksij
Prince Svetozar
Peter I of Serbia
Princess Jelena
Prince Andrej
Princess Jelisaveta
Prince Đorđe
Prince Arsen
House Nenadović family
Karađorđević dynasty
Father Jevrem Nenadović
Born 15 February 1813
Brankovina, Serbia
Died 29 March 1873 (age 60)
Vienna
Burial Church of St. George, Oplenac
Religion Serbian Orthodox

Persida Nenadović (Serbian Cyrillic: Персида Ненадовић; 15 February 1813 29 March 1873) was the Princess consort of Serbia as the wife of Alexander Karađorđević, who ruled the Principality of Serbia from his election on 14 September 1842 until his abdication on 24 October 1858. She was the mother of ten children, including future king Peter I of Serbia, who succeeded to the throne after the assassination of King Alexander I, the last ruler of the Obrenović dynasty (the traditional rivals of the Karađorđevićs).[1]

Family and marriage

Persida was born on 15 February 1813 in Brankovina, Ottoman Empire (now Serbia), the daughter of voivode (commander) Jevrem Nenadović (1793–1867) and Jovanka Milovanović (1792–1880). Her paternal grandfather was Jakov Nenadović, the first Serbian Interior Minister of Revolutionary Serbia, maternal grandfather Mladen Milovanović was the first Minister of Defence.

On 1 June 1830 in Hotin, Bessarabia, at the age of 17, she married Alexander Karađorđević, the son of Karađorđe Petrović and Jelena Jovanović. On 14 September 1842, Alexander was elected as Prince of Serbia, succeeding the deposed Prince Miloš Obrenović, and himself becoming the first Karađorđević ruler. From that date until his own abdication, Persida was styled Princess of Serbia.

In 1858, Prince Alexander came into conflict with members of the Council, with the result that he was compelled to abdicate in favour of Miloš Obrenović, who returned to power for the second time. Following Alexander's abdication, she and her family retired to Timişoara. She gave birth to a total of 10 children, six of whom lived to adulthood.

She died on 29 March 1873 at the age of 60 in Vienna. In 1912, their son King Peter ordered the remains of Princess Persida and Prince Alexander to be moved to the Church of St. George in Oplenac.

The actress Catherine Oxenberg is one of Persida's many descendants.

Issue

The children of Alexander and Persida:[2]

Church of St. George, in Oplenac, burial place of Princess Persida, and many members of her family

See also

References

  1. C. L Sulzberger. (1977). The Fall of Eagles, New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., pp. 198, 202, 221
  2. Karageorgevich family.www.genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/karageo.html