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Nicholas I of Montenegro

Nikola I Petrović-Njegoš (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола I Петровић-Његош; 7 October [O.S. 25 September] 1841 – 1 March 1921) was the last monarch of Montenegro from 1860 to 1918, reigning as prince from 1860 to 1910 and as the country's first and only king from 1910 to 1918. His grandsons were kings Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Umberto II of Italy among others.

Nikola I
Никола I

28 August 1910 – 26 November 1918

Himself (as Prince of Montenegro)

13 August 1860 – 28 August 1910

Himself (as King of Montenegro)

(1841-10-07)7 October 1841
Njeguši, Montenegro

1 March 1921(1921-03-01) (aged 79)
Cap d'Antibes, France

1 October 1989

(m. 1860)

Anastasija Stana Martinović

Your Majesty

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Nikola was born in the village of Njeguši, the home of the reigning House of Petrović. He was the son of Mirko Petrović-Njegoš, a celebrated Montenegrin warrior (an elder brother to Danilo I of Montenegro) and his wife, Anastasija Martinovich (1824–1895). After 1696, when the dignity of vladika, or prince-bishop, became hereditary in the Petrović family, the sovereign power had descended from uncle to nephew, the vladikas belonging to the order of the black clergy (i.e., monastic clergy) who are forbidden to marry. A change was introduced by Danilo I, who declined the episcopal office, married and declared the principality hereditary in the direct male line. Mirko Petrović-Njegoš having renounced his claim to the throne, his son was nominated heir-presumptive, and the old system of succession was thus incidentally continued.


Prince Nikola, who had been trained from infancy in martial and athletic exercises, spent a portion of his early boyhood in Trieste at the household of the Kustic family, to which his aunt, the princess Darinka, wife of Danilo II, belonged. The princess was an ardent francophile, and at her suggestion, the young heir-presumptive of the vladikas was sent to the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. Unlike his contemporary, King Milan of Serbia, Prince Nikola was little influenced in his tastes and habits by his Parisian education; the young highlander, whose keen patriotism, capability for leadership and poetic talents early displayed themselves, showed no inclination for the pleasures of the French capital, and eagerly looked forward to returning to his native land.


Nikola was a member of the "United Serbian Youth" (Уједињена омладина српска) during its existence (1866–1871).[1][2] After the organization was prohibited in the Principality of Serbia and Austro-Hungary, the "Association for Serb Liberation and Unification" (Дружина за ослобођење и уједињење српско) was established by Nikola, Marko Popović, Simo Popović, Mašo Vrbica, Vasa Pelagić, and more, in Cetinje (1871).[3][4][5]


Nicholas I of Montenegro was also reflected in literature. His most significant works are the Serb patriotic song "Onamo, 'namo!" (There, over there!), and the drama "Empress of the Balkan".[6]

Founder and Grand Master of the , 1870[9]

Order of Saint Peter of Cetinje

Serbian[8]


Foreign[8]

King Nikola and the Kingdom of Montenegro are remembered briefly in 's The Great Gatsby, where its eponymous main character reminisces on how for his accomplishments and heroic endeavors during the First World War the King confers unto him the highest honor of the Kingdom, the Orderi di Danilo. Gatsby duly presents the medal for his guest to examine which reads on the legend Montenegro, Nicolas Rex and on its reverse: Major Jay Gatsby - For Valour Extraordinary.[21]

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The character of the King in 's movie The Merry Widow (1934) is based on Nicholas.

Maurice Chevalier

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : James David Bourchier (1911). "Nicholas (King of Montenegro)". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

public domain

Jelena Đurović; Milenija Vračar; Dragica Lompar (2010). . Centralna Narodna Biblioteka Crne Gore "Đurđe Crnojević". ISBN 978-86-7079-109-1.

Nikola I, gospodar i pjesnik

1896.

Два Петровића Његоша, Владика Данило Петровић И Кнез Никола I.

Перо Вуковић (1910). Штампарија К. Ц. Министерства војног.

Књаз Никола I као пјесник: написао Перо Вуковић,...

. Crnogorska akademija nauka i umjetnosti. 1998. ISBN 9788672150988.

King Nikola – personality, work, and time

Radoman Jovanović (1977). . Istorijski institut SR Crne Gore.

Politički odnosi Crne Gore i Srbije 1860–1878

Novica Rakočević (1981). . Istorijski institut SR Crne Gore u Titogradu.

Politički odnosi Crne Gore i Srbije: 1903–1918

on YouTube (in Croatian)

Video footage of king Nicholas

in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Newspaper clippings about Nicholas I of Montenegro