Princess Sara Karageorgevitch

Who she was

Princess Sara (Sarka) Karageorgevitch, born Anastasijević (1836-1931), was the wife of Prince George Karageorgevitch (1827-1884), a member of the exiled Serbian dynasty, and the mother of Alexis (1859-1920) and Bojidar (1862-1908). She was the daughter of Miša Anastasijević (1803-1885), a Serbian merchant and senator often called the "Danube Rothschild", who married his daughters to men of influence; her sister Persida married Jovan Marinović, later prime minister and from 1879 to 1889 the Serbian minister in Paris. This is why Marie can write, on 6 January 1883, that she watches a procession from the windows of "M. Marinovitch, ministre de Serbie et beau-frère de la princesse" (097.0362) and on 15 September 1883 that the young Marinovitch is "le fils du ministre de Serbie, beau-frère de la princesse Karageorgevitch" (101.0366). A younger daughter died in childhood; Bojidar told Marie that the princess's mind had been unsettled "depuis la mort de sa fille" (086.0081). Her dates and parentage are from English Wikipedia; sources give 1836 for her birth, and the older glossary page's "c. 1830" is not supported.

The tag is used only for her, in both forms "la princesse Karageorgevitch" and, shortly, "la Princesse"; the family as a whole is #Karageorgevitch.

Marie and the princess

Arrival (1878). In April 1878 Maman talks to "la princesse Karageorges et son fils", whom the Bashkirtseffs had met at Nice and Ostend and who "semblent vouloir continuer la connaissance" (079.0459). On 27 October 1878 she called with a son and, Marie notes, was kind enough to be the first to call (083.0058, 083.0059). Marie used her connections: on 2 November 1878 she wrote to her for tickets to the "séance Cassagnac", "son fils connaît des gens utiles" (083.0091), and on 4 November the princess came to say she would do all she could (083.0108). On 29 December 1878 Marie's father was furious when the princess called while he was visiting, because he hated to see his family "avec des gens comme il faut" (083.0509).

A bore, a friend (1879). On 15 March 1879 Marie dined at the Karageorgevitches' and thought the princess "simple": "elle ne comprendra jamais qu'on s'ennuie à des soirées comme celle de ce soir" (084.0476); the princess urged her to come out of her seclusion "même pour votre art" (084.0479). In June 1879 she gave the Bashkirtseffs tickets for the circus and went with Marie, her aunt, Dina and her sons, and then on to the Salon lit by electric light (085.0236). At Dieppe in August she found her "folle" and overprotective: she forbade the boys to rise at five to go painting with Marie (086.0082), treated them as small children and shut them in for the night, while Bojidar slept in her room (086.0083). On 30 November 1879 the princess "est venue pleurer parce que ses fils ne l'aiment pas" before taking Marie to the Bois (086.0606), and on 2 December she took Marie and Alexis to hear a debate in the Chamber (086.0611).

Suspected letters (1880). On 23 February 1880 Marie wrote that the family had not been to the house "depuis longtemps": "la princesse est bête et folle c'est vrai mais je la soupçonne d'être l'auteur de lettres anonymes remplies d'injures que reçoit maman" (087.0528). On 9 May 1880 at the Salon the princess sat three rows below the Bashkirtseffs, and Marie's aunt and Dina said she and Bojidar looked at them "d'un air insolent" (088.0132); Marie told the Gavinis that "la Princesse est toquée et de plus pas élevée du tout" (088.0134) and on 12 May called her "une folle dangereuse" (088.0161).

The visit of 13 December 1880. The princess's call over the Soutzo business is the fullest scene in which she speaks: after dinner she sent in her card, and Marie answered "Eh bien Princesse ?" (090.0340, 090.0343). She told Marie that her son had been furious through jealousy, and that she herself had made faces at them, "indignée de vous voir avec lui" (090.0359, 090.0362). Marie wrote that the princess "a raison, on a été imprudent avec Soutzo" and ended with a verdict on her "si folle" (090.0371, 090.0375). On 19 December the princess came again with Bojidar and spoke bitterly of her own father, who had, Marie says, "exilé" them (090.0414). She sent Marie a Serbian shirt and a scarf on 16 January 1881 (090.0601) and, on 26 January, a smoked ham from Serbia (091.0006).

Alexis's mother (1881-1883). The princess talked of marrying off "cette canaille d'Alexis", who would ruin them unless he found a wife, and told Marie he was "souple et sera mené par sa femme" (091.0231). On 24 February 1881 Marie dressed Alexis in women's clothes and took him, with herself in a black wig, to the Folies-Bergère; the princess wanted to come into the corridors too but "il s'y est opposé" (091.0184, 091.0186). On 28 August 1881 Marie reported that she had asked the former prefect of police, Andrieux, for a post for Alexis (093.0038). On 26 December 1882 Marie recorded, half in jest, that the princess wanted her to choose either Alexis or Bojidar for a husband (097.0293), and in March 1883 the matter was discussed at home for two days (098.0505).

Confinement (1882). In 1882 Marie noted that the princess "est sortie de la maison de fous où ses charmants fils l'avaient enfermée", and that "le ministre de Serbie a ordonné de la faire sortir" (095.0319). "Ils sont tous fous," she wrote. This is Marie's report only. The Serbian minister is her brother-in-law Marinović (see above).

Rift and daily visits (1882-1884). On 18 May 1882, when Marie and her mother met Soutzo while looking at a flat next to the princess's, the princess "nous bénissait de son balcon de vieille toquée" (095.0059); Marie's judgment on the family had turned severe (095.0058). From the autumn of 1883, however, the princess came "presque tous les jours jouer aux cartes avec ma tante" (102.0062), to dine (102.0091), and, as Marie noted on 5 October, "elle est toujours fourrée ici la princesse et voudrait bien me colloquer et Alexis" (101.0494). Marie found her wearisome: "J'en suis fatiguée, elle m'ennuie" (102.0091). On 28 November 1883 she complained of the princess's envy and of her "voisine la drôle de princesse" (102.0355). The last time the princess appears at length is on 22 February 1884, when she brought Alexis home after nine months abroad and was "ravie et même fière" of his intimacy with Mme Petzold (103.0366, 103.0367). Bojidar's father died in August 1884; in September 1884 she stayed ten days with the Bashkirtseffs while Bojidar went to Étretat (106.0084).

Related entries

Sources