The Karageorgevitch family

What this tag means

"Karageorgevitch" in the diary is not one person but a household: the exiled Serbian prince George, his wife Sara (Marie's "la princesse"), and their two sons Alexis and Bojidar. Marie writes "les Karageorgevitch" when the family arrives or dines together, "le vieux prince" or "le vieux Karageorgevitch" for the father, "la mère Karageorgevitch" for the mother, and "les deux Karageorgevitch" or "les petits Karageorgevitch" for the sons. This entry carries the tag when the text means the family as a group, or the father, or leaves it open which of them is meant. When the text means a single member, use the separate entries:

Only one paragraph has been found where the tag seems to mean something else: the Spa passage of 15 August 1874 (023.0128), in which "les deux petits princes Kara-Georgevitch, douze et treize ans" are introduced to the Bashkirtseffs. Bojidar was twelve at that date but Alexis fifteen, so Marie's ages are loose or the boys are not the brothers; the identification is probable, not certain.

The family

Prince George (Serbian Đorđe Karađorđević), born in 1827 and died at Bad Gastein in early August 1884, was a grandson of Karađorđe Petrović, the leader of the First Serbian Uprising and founder of the dynasty. His father Alexis (1801-1830) was Karađorđe's eldest son; George's uncle Alexander ruled Serbia as prince from 1842 until he was forced out in 1858, a few months before George's son Alexis was born. The family then lived in exile, chiefly in Paris. George married Sara Anastasijević, daughter of the rich Serbian merchant and senator Miša Anastasijević. They had two sons, Alexis and Bojidar, and a daughter born in 1862 who died in childhood. Marie's description of the father is unflattering: "un homme maladif et ordinaire", who "a servi dans la garde après avoir renoncé au trône de Serbie pour lui et les siens" (084.0476). She also reports, on 17 September 1883, that he "a été bête et malade et flanqué à la porte" and that his wife's father, the millionaire "Anastacievitch", had conspired against the Karageorgevitch and brought them down (101.0380); this is Marie's version of the family's Serbian politics, not a documented statement.

In Marie's day there were two claimants in the house of Karageorgevitch. George and, after his death, Alexis represented the senior line; Peter, the son of the deposed Prince Alexander, was the active candidate. Marie says as much when she first meets the family: "le père du prince a abdiqué pour lui et ses descendants et que c'est le prince Pierre qui est le Don Carlos de la Serbie" (083.0059), and again in 1880: Peter is "le prétendant remuant et avoué mais la vieille bête de prince, père de Bojidar est le prince légitime" (088.0728). Peter's marriage to Princess Zorka of Montenegro in 1883 and his backing by Russia made the sons' own prospects look dim (100.0498, 101.0380). Another relative who appears is the Serbian minister in Paris, Marinovitch, brother-in-law of the princess (097.0362, 101.0366).

Marie and the Karageorgevitch

Meeting (1878-1879). The princess and a son call on the Bashkirtseffs in Nice or Ostend by April 1878 (079.0459); on 25 April 1878 "le prince Karageorgevitch a fait une visite à maman" (079.0538). Marie is unimpressed at first, but the families visit constantly after 1878; a dinner at the Karageorgevitch house on 15 March 1879, with two Americans and "deux amis français", struck her as a student gathering (084.0476, 084.0479). At Easter 1879 she lunched at their table, kept open for three days "selon l'usage russe" (084.0655, 084.0656). In June 1879 the Karageorgevitch dined at the Bashkirtseffs and admired her drawings and the skeleton "Amélie" (085.0268).

Dieppe and Paris (August-December 1879). Marie chose Dieppe in August because "les Karageorgevitch sont à Dieppe" (086.0067): "Nous sommes avec les Karageorgevitch" (086.0071). She painted the old prince's portrait on 1 September, during which he quarrelled with his wife, who lay on her sofa (086.0191). On 26 October 1879 "le vieux Prince" with both sons dined in Paris (086.0436), and on 30 October the whole party went to the Cluny museum (086.0447).

Rupture and reconciliation (1880). By February 1880 "Les Karageorgevitch ne viennent plus depuis longtemps"; Marie suspected the princess of sending Maman anonymous letters (087.0528). On 9 May 1880 she told the Gavinis that the break with the family dated from the Bashkirtseff ball and the affair of Berthe (088.0134). On 13 December 1880 the princess came to patch things up; Marie concluded that "ces Karageorgevitch sont tout de même des gens honnêtes... tandis que le Soutzo a fait pas mal de malpropretés" (090.0375). Marie's later considered verdict is much harsher (095.0058).

Daily circle (1881-1882). The sons came and went, Alexis and Bojidar helped hang her studio and were jokingly "mon attelage de poneys" (090.0557); the princess sent a smoked Serbian ham on 26 January 1881 which Daillens asked whether it was an ancestor (091.0006). On 5 April 1881 Marie, her mother and her father, who had arrived unexpectedly that morning, looked in briefly at the Karageorgevitch (091.0425), and on 24 April four of them dined with the Bashkirtseffs, "la gaîté bon enfant de ces garçons me semble un manque de tenue" (091.0523).

Last years (1883-1884). In the autumn of 1883 the princess came "presque tous les jours jouer aux cartes avec ma tante" and stayed for dinner (102.0062, 102.0091); on 3 November 1883 Marie lists them among her "gens moisis" with the Engelhardts, the Tchernitskys and the priest (102.0094). The Karageorgevitch were "envieux" of a visiting lady from Saint Petersburg (102.0355). On 27 November 1883 they hurried to the Hôtel Drouot and brought news that Marie's picture had fetched 125 francs, and the princess later asked her whether she had two (102.0332, 102.0333). On 21 December 1883 Marie gave "un échantillon de la stupidité de la mère Karageorgevitch": she repeated to Mme Yablahowska what Maman had said of her, and then told the Bashkirtseffs she had done so (102.0517). On 1 January 1884 the Bashkirtseffs dined at the Karageorgevitch house, "il n'y a que nous et les Marinovitch" (102.0629), and the cards were laid out for the new year (102.0631). On 13 January 1884 they came for the Russian new year (103.0018). On 22 February 1884 the princess brought Alexis back from nine months away in Vienna and Hungary, and Marie wrote that "la mère Karageorgevitch est ravie et même fière" of his friendship with the Princess Petzold (103.0366, 103.0367).

Related entries

Sources