by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2015
source: Wikipedia
King Ferdinand I of Romania
King Ferdinand of Romania was born Prince Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a Roman Catholic branch of the House of Hohenzollern. He was born on August 24, 1865, in Sigmaringen, Kingdom of Prussia, now in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, the second of three sons of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Infanta Antonia of Portugal.
Ferdinand had two brothers:
- Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern (1864 – 1927), married (1) Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, had three children; (2) Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria, no children
- Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern (1868 – 1919), married Princess Joséphine Caroline of Belgium, had four children.
Following his primary and secondary studies in Dusseldorf, he attended the Military School in Kassel, graduating in 1887 with the rank of Lieutenant. He then attended the University of Leipzig and the School of Political Science and Economics in Tübingen until early 1889. During his schooling, he shows exceptional skill as a linguist, becoming fluent in French, English, and Russian. Through a tutor sent by his uncle, he also learned Romanian and studied the literature, history, and geography of his future homeland.
Ferdinand (left) with his uncle, King Carol I, and his son, the future Carol II. source: Wikipedia
In 1866, his uncle, Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, had been elected Ruling Prince of the Romanian United Principalities, and in 1881 was proclaimed King Carol I of Romania. King Carol and his wife, Princess Elisabeth of Wied, had only one daughter who died at the age of three. With no sons to inherit the throne, the succession passed to his younger brother, Leopold – Ferdinand’s father. Leopold renounced his rights in 1880, as did his eldest son in 1886. Ferdinand became heir-presumptive to the Romanian throne. He was formally recognized by the Romanian government as Crown Prince in 1889. As part of the agreement, he was permitted to retain his Catholic faith but agreed that any children would be raised in the Orthodox church.
After arriving in Romania in 1889, Ferdinand (‘Nando’ as he was known in the family) soon became involved with the Romanian writer, and friend of Queen Elisabeth, Elena Văcărescu. This caused a scandal, not only because of her unequal rank but because the Romanian constitution banned Ferdinand from marrying a Romanian. In 1891, the relationship ended, the young woman was exiled to France, and The Queen, who had encouraged the romance, was also sent away for several years. The King then sent Ferdinand on a tour of Europe, with the intention of finding a suitable bride.
On January 10, 1893, at Sigmaringen Castle in Sigmaringen, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Ferdinand married his third cousin, Princess Marie of Edinburgh, daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (and later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Following the civil ceremony held at the castle, a Catholic ceremony was held in the city’s cathedral, and then an Anglican ceremony was held at the palace. The couple officially had six children. The two youngest children are believed to have been fathered by Marie’s lover but were formally acknowledged by Ferdinand as his own:
- King Carol II (1893-1953), married (1) Ioana “Zizi” Lambrino, had issue; (2) Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark, had issue; (3) Elena “Magda” Lupescu, no issue
- Princess Elisabeta, Queen of the Hellenes (1894-1956), married King George II of Greece, no issue
- Princess Maria, Queen of Yugoslavia (1900-1961), married King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, had issue
- Prince Nicholas (1903-1978), married (1) Ioana Doletti, no issue (2) Thereza Lisboa Figueira de Mello, no issue
- Princess Ileana, Archduchess of Austria (1909-1991) – married (1) Archduke Anton of Austria-Tuscany, had issue; (2) Dr. Stefan Issarescu, no issue
- Prince Mircea (1913-1916), died from typhoid fever at age 3
Ferdinand and Marie overseeing the crossing of the Tisza River, August 1919. source: Wikipedia
On October 10, 1914, Ferdinand became King of Romania upon the death of his uncle. Already in the early stages of World War I, Ferdinand maintained Romania’s neutrality until finally entering the war, on the side of the Allied Powers, in August 1916. During the war, Ferdinand and his wife traveled extensively to support the troops and boost morale amongst the Romanian people. By the end of the war, through Ferdinand’s leadership, the Kingdom of Romania had grown to include the regions of Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transylvania.
Following World War I and the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919, King Ferdinand and Queen Marie were finally crowned in an elaborate ceremony held in Alba Iulia, in Transylvania, on October 15, 1922. The following years were focused on rebuilding the country and returning it to the once-flourishing region it had been.
King Ferdinand died of intestinal cancer on July 20, 1927, at Peleș Castle, in Sinaia, Romania. He is buried at the Curtea de Argeş Cathedral, Curtea de Argeş, Romania. As his elder son Carol had renounced his rights to the throne, Ferdinand was succeeded by his five-year-old grandson, King Mihai. Carol would later return and reclaim the throne in 1930, only to abdicate again in 1940.
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