| Duke Alexander | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Born | 2 June [O.S. 21 May] 1844 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire | ||||
| Died | 6 September 1932 (aged 88) Biarritz, France | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg | ||||
| Issue | Duke Peter | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Holstein-Gottorp | ||||
| Father | Duke Peter of Oldenburg | ||||
| Mother | Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg | ||||
Duke Alexander Frederick Constantin of Oldenburg (German: Herzog Alexander Friedrich Konstantin von Oldenburg; Russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Ольденбу́ргский, Alexander Petrovich Oldenburgsky; 2 June [O.S. 21 May] 1844 – 6 September 1932) was the second son of Duke Peter of Oldenburg and his wife, Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg.[2][3] Though he had a German title and ancestry, Alexander and his siblings were born and raised in St. Petersburg as the grandchildren of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia.
Alexander served as Adjutant general to Alexander III of Russia, and also as commanding general of the Imperial Guard. Alexander was the Russian candidate submitted to succeed Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, though this nomination failed to gain the support of the other great European powers. At the outbreak of World War I, Nicholas II of Russia appointed Alexander, a medical doctor, as supreme chief of the medical service of the military and naval forces.
Alexander and his wife Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg were noted for their philanthropy, establishing schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable organizations in Russia. During World War I, the duke famously invited wounded British and French soldiers to stay for free in a sanatorium he founded in the Crimea. When the Russian revolution broke out, Alexander was reported to have been one of the Imperial family killed by the newly emerged Bolshevik government, though this turned out to be only a rumor as the duke was able to escape and hide away in Finland and eventually to France, where he died at Biarritz on 6 September 1932.
- ^ "OLDENBURG". Royalty Guide. Archived from the original on 10 February 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ Lundy, Darryl. "The Peerage: Alexander Friedrich Constantine von Holstein-Gottorp, Duke of Oldenburg". Retrieved 16 October 2010.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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