09.10.2011.
Marking the death of King Petar I Karadjordjevic
The memorial service to Aleksandar I Karadjordjevic, who was assassinated 77 years ago in Marseilles on October 9, 1934, was held in the Royal’s Mausoleum at the Church of Saint George in Oplenac.
Bishop Jovan of Sumadija served the memorial service, with the concelebration of the priests from the Oplenac Regency and a church choir “Oplenac”.
The wreaths were laid on the King Aleksandar I grave at the crypt of the church in Oplenac by the delegations of Defence Ministry and Serbian Armed Forces, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Municipality of Topola, and a majority of the towns and municipalities, as well as the citizens associations for preserving tradition of Serbian liberation wars. Aleksandar Karadjordjevic (1888-1934) was born in Cetinje. He spent his childhood in Montenegro. He was educated in a Military School in St. Petersburg and then in Belgrade.
Prince Aleksandar’s turn of destiny took place in 1909, when his older brother, Prince Djordje, renounced his claim to the throne.
King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic was the Commander of the First Army in the First and Second Balkan War, whereas in the First World War, he successfully led the war operations as Serbian Army’s Supreme Commander.
After the death of his father, King Petar I, on July 17, 1921, he became the King of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was renamed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.
During the official visit to France, the members of the Croatian Ustasa Movement and the Macedonia VMRO assassinated King Aleksandar in Marseilles. On that occasion, the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou was also murdered. King Aleksandar’s remains were transferred to the country on October 18, 1934, and laid in the family grave at the temple in Oplenac. The King Aleksandar’s funeral was attended by the delegations from many states and thousands of citizens of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
