Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

Bulgarian ruler

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian : Фердинанд I Български ; born : 26 February 1861 : Vienna,Austria  – died : 10 September 1948 : Coburg,Bavaria,Germany)[1] was a Bulgarian monarch and Tsar of Bulgaria,born in the Austrian Empire in 1861 . He was Prince Of Bulgaria from 1887-1908 and Tsar Of Bulgaria and reigned from 1908 until 1918 when he was replaced by Boris III Of Bulgaria (1894-1943) his son . Under his rule Bulgaria joined the Central Powers during World War I in 1915 after the First Balkan War 1912-1913 and the Second Balkan War Of 1913 before WW1 . He joined Central Power along the side with Kaiser Wilhelm II (Kaiser Of Germany),Franz Joseph I (Kaiser Of Austria)and ,Charles I or Karl I, and Mehmed V (Sultan of Turkey) until there defeat in 1918 and he was exiled and lived in Weimar Germany from 1918-1933 and Nazi Germany from 1933-1945,until his death in 1948 in Occupied Germany just 30 year’s after World War 1 and 3 years after World War 2 .

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria

Biography

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He was born in Vienna as Ferdinand Maximilan Charles Leopold Marie, Duke of Saxony, later becoming Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the son of Augustus of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary (1818–1881) and his wife née Clémentine of Orléans (1817–1907). He was proclaimed prince regnant of Bulgaria on 25 June 1887 (O.S.)/7 July 1887 (N.S.).[2]

On 20 April 1893 at the Villa Pianore in Luccia in Italy, he married Maria Luisa Pia Teresa Anna Ferdinanda Francesca Antonietta Margherita Giuseppina Carolina Bianca Lucia Appollonia, Princess of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of Roberto I of Parma. He was also thought to be bisexual, even after marrying his first wife.[3]

They had four children, Boris III (born : 1894 : Varna Palace ,Sofia,Bulgaria–died : 28 August 1943 : Sofia, Bulgaria), Kyril (1895–1945), Eudoxia (1898–1985), Nadejda (1899–1958) and Maria Luisa died in 1899. On 28 February 1908 in Coburg Ferdinand married his second wife, Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise, Princess Reuss-Köstritz (1860-1917), daughter of Heinrich IV Reuss von Köstritz (1821–1894) and née Luise Caroline Reuss zu Greiz (1822–1875).[4]

Ferdinand became king of Bulgaria after it became independent on 22 September 1908 (O.S.)/5 September 1908 (N.S.). He abdicated on 3 October 1918.

He died in Burglassschloßen in Coburg, and is buried in St. Augustin's Catholic Church.

References

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Further reading

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  • Aronson, Theo (1986). Crowns in Conflict: The Triumph and The Tragedy of European Monarchy, 1910–1918. London: J. Murray. ISBN 0719542790.
  • Böttcher, Hans-Joachim: Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1861 - 1948 - Ein Kosmopolit auf dem bulgarischen Thron. Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-89998-296-1.
  • Finestone, Jeffrey (1981). The Last Courts of Europe. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. ISBN 0460045199.
  • Louda, Jiri; Michael Maclagan (1981). Lines of Succession. London: Orbis Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0856132764.
  • Constant, Stephen (1986). Foxy Ferdinand, 1861–1948, Tsar of Bulgaria. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. ISBN 0-283-98515-1.
  • Palmer, Alan (1978). The Kaiser: Warlord of The Second Reich. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0297773933.

Other websites

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Regnal titles
Preceded by
Alexander I
Prince of Bulgaria
7 July 1887 – 5 October 1908
proclaimed Tsar
Bulgarian independence
from Ottoman Empire
New title
Tsar of Bulgaria
5 October 1908 – 3 October 1918
Succeeded by
Boris III