Early Years
Milan Obrenović IV was born in exile in Mărăşeşti, Principality of Moldavia during the period of Karađorđević rule in the Principality of Serbia, which began in 1842 with the deposition of Milan's cousin Prince Mihailo Obrenović.
Milan was the son of Miloš Obrenović (1829–1861) and Elena Maria Catargiu from Moldavia (known in Serbia as Marija Obrenović). Milan's paternal grandfather (Miloš's father) was Jevrem Obrenović (1790–1881), the brother of famous Serb Prince - Miloš Obrenović. Milan was therefore Prince Miloš's grandnephew. Milan had only one sibling - sister Tomanija.
Shortly after Milan's birth, his parents divorced. Couple of years later, at the tender age of seven, Milan lost his father Miloš who died fighting the Turks near Bucharest as a foreign mercenary in the Romanian Army, meaning that mother Marija got a legal custody. Marija, however, lived a lavish aristocratic lifestyle, soon becoming Romanian ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza's mistress and bearing him two children. As a result she showed little interest in her kids from the previous marriage with Miloš so an agreement was reached for young Milan to get legally adopted by his cousin Prince Mihailo who in the meantime, following the 1858 expulsion of the Karađorđevićs, returned to Serbia where he became the ruling prince in 1860. Milan was brought to Kragujevac by Prince Mihailo who also arranged for a governess to raise the youngster.
Prince Mihailo also took care of his nephew's education, sending him to Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris where the young man reportedly displayed considerable maturity.
Read more about this topic: Milan I Of Serbia
Famous quotes containing the words early years, early and/or years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“So much for Mrs. Hollis’ nine months of pain and 20 years of hope.”
—Alvah Bessie, Ranald MacDougall, and Lester Cole. Raoul Walsh. Nameless GI, Objective Burma, cutting dog tags off a dead GI (1945)