His Serene Highness Prince Alexander

(11. October 1806.- 03. May 1885.)

His Serene Highness Prince Alexander was born in Topola on October 11, 1806, in the aftermath of the First Serbian Uprising. He was the younger son of Supreme Leader Karađorđe and his wife Jelena.

After the failure of the First Serbian Uprising, Alexander left Serbia with his family in 1813. He received his education in Khotyn in Bessarabia, then part of Russia, under the patronage of the Russian emperor. In 1830, he married Persida, the daughter of Duke Jevrem Nenadović and Jovanka Milovanović. They had nine children: daughters Polexia, Cleopatra, Jelena, and Elisaveta, and sons Alexi, Svetozar, Andrej (all three of whom died in childhood), Peter, and Arsen.

At the end of 1839, following the Sultan’s Firman confirming the princely dignity of Prince Mihailo Obrenović, the Karađorđević family returned to Serbia. Alexander joined the Main Staff of the Serbian Army, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and appointed adjutant to Prince Mihailo.

Following political conflicts caused by the disregard for the so-called “Turkish Constitution” of 1838 and the abdications of Prince Miloš Obrenović, and then Prince Mihailo Obrenović, Alexander was elected Prince of Serbia at the National Assembly held in Vračar on September 14, 1842.

After the recognition of his princely title by Russia and Turkey, Prince Alexander embarked on reforms and the establishment of new institutions to accelerate the development of the state. A code of civil law was enacted, a standing army was introduced, a smeltery was established in Kragujevac in 1853, existing schools were improved, and new ones were founded, including the National Library and the National Museum. The Civil Code was adopted in 1844.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 in Vojvodina, a company of Serbian volunteers commanded by Stevan Knićanin, sent by Prince Alexander to support the Serbs in their fight for autonomy, participated. As a continuation of the national-political movement from 1848, the Pan-Slavist idea of a Yugoslav Kingdom emerged, which, along with “Nachertanije” by Ilija Garašanin—a Serbian political programme written four years earlier—shaped the foundation of Serbian foreign policy around the mission to liberate all South Slavic peoples from Austrian and Turkish rule.

In domestic politics, Prince Alexander clashed with members of the State Council, leading to the convening of the St. Andrew’s National Assembly in December 1858, which forced his abdication.

Following his abdication, Prince Alexander retired to his estate near Timișoara, in present-day Romania. His peaceful existence was disrupted by the accusation that he had provided funds and weapons to the conspirators in the assassination of Prince Mihailo. The conviction for a crime he did not commit deeply wounded him. In his declarations, he vehemently denied any wrongdoing attributed to him by his adversaries.

Prince Alexander Karađorđević died in Timișoara on May 3, 1885 and was buried in Vienna.

The mortal remains of His Highness Prince Alexander and Princess Persida were transferred on December 22, 1911 (according to the Julian calendar) to the endowment of King Peter the First in Oplenac.