Persida Nenadović


Persida Nenadović 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.

Family and marriage

Persida was born on 15 February 1813 in Brankovina, Ottoman Empire, the daughter of voivode Jevrem Nenadović and Jovanka Milovanović. 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 Timișoara. 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:
, burial place of Princess Persida, and many members of her family