Prince Mirko of Montenegro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Prince Mirko of Montenegro | |
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| Born | April 17, 1879 Cetinje |
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| Died | March 2, 1918 (aged 38) Vienna |
| Parents | Nicholas I of Montenegro (father) Milena Vukotić (mother) |
Prince Mirko Dimitri Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro, Grand Voivode of Grahovo and Zetà (17 April 1879-2 March 1918) was born at Cetinje the second son of King Nikola I of Montenegro. Prince Mirko predeceased his father and his elder brother Crown Prince Danilo.
Prince Mirko married Natalija Konstantinovic (1882-1950), daughter of Alexander Constantinovich and wife Milena Opuich, at Cetinje on July 25, 1902, the couple had five sons before divorcing in 1917: Stephan (1903-1908), Stanislaw (1905-1907), Michael (1908-1986), Pavle (1910-1933) and Emmanuel (1912-1928). Their eldest surviving son Prince Michael of Montenegro, succeeded Mirko in the Montenegrin royal succession and would become head of the House of Petrović-Njegoš and pretender to the Montenegrin throne.
As Prince Mirko's wife was the granddaughter of Alexander Constantinovic, married in 1842 to Anka (Anna) Obrenović (April 1, 1821-June 10, 1868, assassinated in Belgrade), a member of the Serbian House of Obrenović, it was agreed with the Serbian Government that Prince Mirko would be proclaimed Crown Prince of Serbia in the event that the marriage of King Aleksandar Obrenović and Queen Draga was childless.[1]
Mirko lost his chance to succeed to the Serbian throne in 1903, due to the assassination of Alexander and Draga and the resulting conferral of the crown upon Peter Karageorgevic. However in 1911 he joined the Black Hand "Unity or Death" secret society bent on unification of all Serbs in the Balkans, especially those under Austria-Hungary, bent on becoming its unified leader.
Mirko divorced his wife in 1917 and moved from Paris to Vienna where he died in 1918. Following his death, his ten year old son Prince Michael of Montenegro was raised in Paris by his mother and the residual members of the exiled Montenegrin Royal Family. In 1921 following the death of King Nikola I of Montenegro and shortly afterwards by the abdication of Crown Prince Danilo, the thirteen year old Prince Michael of Montenegro became the head of the Petrović-Njegoš house, albeit initially under a regency.
