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Olga Constantinovna of Russia

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Olga Konstantinovna of Russia
Queen of the Hellenes
Tenure27 October, 1867 (date of marriage) – 18 March, 1913
Burial17 November, 1936
Tatoi
SpouseGeorge I of Greece
IssueConstantine I of Greece
Prince George
Princess Alexandra
Prince Nicholas
Princess Marie
Princess Olga
Prince Andrew
Prince Christopher
HouseHouse of Oldenburg
House of Romanov
FatherGrand Duke Constantine Nikolayevich of Russia
MotherAlexandra Iosifovna of Altenburg

Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, later Queen Olga of Greece (in Russian: Великая Княжна Ольга Константиновна, Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna; in Greek: Βασίλισσα Όλγα των Ελλήνων, Queen Olga of the Hellenes) (3 September 1851 – 18 June 1926), was the queen consort of King George I of Greece and briefly in 1920, Regent of Greece.

Early life

A granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I and first cousin of Tsar Alexander III, she was born in Pavlovsk the daughter of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia and Alexandra Iosifovna, a Princess of Saxe-Altenberg. The young King George I of Greece visited Russia in 1863 to thank her uncle Tsar Alexander II for his support during George's election to the throne of Greece. Whilst there, George met the then twelve-year old Olga for the first time.[1]

George visited Russia again in 1867 to meet with his sister Dagmar, who had married Tsarevitch Alexander the year before. George and Olga fell in love and married on October 27, 1867 (Gregorian calendar), when she was sixteen years old. Queen Olga was a direct matrilineal 27th-generation descendant of the Byzantine Empress Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera (c 1155–1211), the Empress-consort of, and the true power behind, Emperor Alexios III Angelos, the ruler of Constantinople and of the entire Byzantine Empire between 1195 and 1203.

Together George and Olga had eight children:

Queen

Olga was a genuinely popular Queen and was extensively involved in charity work, endowing the Evangelismos (Annunciation) Hospital, Greece's largest, in downtown Athens, as well as a Russian hospital in Piraeus.[1]

In 1898 she insisted on continuing her engagements without a military guard even though shots had been fired at her husband and daughter.[1]

The "Evangelika" controversy

Being an Orthodox Christian from birth, Queen Olga became aware, during visits to wounded servicemen in the Greco-Turkish War (1897), that many were unable to read the Bible. The version used by the Church of Greece included the Septuagint version of the Old Testament and the original Greek language version of the New Testament. Both were written in Koine Greek while her contemporaries used either Katharevousa or the so-called Demotic version of Modern Greek. Olga decided to have the Bible translated into a version which could be understood by most of her contemporary Greeks rather than those educated in Koine Greek.

The Royal Couple of Greece in 1903.

In November 1901 her publication of a translation of the New Testament from Koine into Modern Greek, without the authorisation of the Greek Holy Synod, led to riots in Athens, and ultimately the fall of the government of Georgios Theotokis and the resignation of the Metropolitan bishop.[2][3]

The translation had been completed by Alexandros Pallis (1851–1935), a major supporter of a literary movement supporting the use of Demotic in written language. However supporters of Katharevousa considered this language "unclean" and wanted to "purify" it. Katharevousa actually contained archaicised forms of modern words, purged of "non-Greek" vocabulary from other European languages and Turkish and a (simplified) archaic grammar. Publication of the translation started in serial form in the newspaper "Acropolis" on 9 September, 1901.

Almost immediately theologians denounced this version as a "ridicule of the most valuable ethnic heritage" while a faction of Greek press started accusing Pallis and his Demoticist supporters of "atheism" and "treason".[citation needed] Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople denounced this translation, adding further fuel to the opposition. The riots were started by students of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, who had been organized by their own professors.[citation needed] They requested the excommunication of Pallis and anyone involved with this translation and its publication, including Procopius I, the Archbishop of Athens who had been a favorite of Olga and had supervised the translation after her personal request.

The riots and conflict between rioters and the police forces resulted in eight deaths and at least seventy people wounded. By December the new translation had been banned and it was decided that any further attempt at translation would result in the incarceration of the participants.[citation needed] This was a major political defeat for Olga. The controversy was called the "Evangelika"", i.e. "the Gospels question", after the word "Evangelion", Greek for "Gospel".

Regency

After her grandson, Alexander I died on 25 October, 1920 of a monkey bite, the Greek government offered the throne to his brother, Paul. Paul refused on the grounds that his father Constantine and elder brother George were still living. The government of Eleftherios Venizelos was defeated in a general election and the Regent, Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis retired on 17 November in favour of Queen Olga. She served as Regent until her son Constantine returned to take over the throne a second time on 19 December after a plebiscite. He had reigned before from 1913 to 1917. His new reign lasted less than two years.

After her death at Pau, Béarn, France, she was first interred in Italy (where the Greek Royal Family lived in exile), but on the restoration of the Greek monarchy in 1936 she was re-interred at Tatoi on 17 November that year.[4]

Ancestors

16. Emperor Peter III of Russia (1728-1762)
8. Emperor Paul I of Russia (1754-1801)
17. Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst (later Catherine II of Russia) (1729-1796)
4. Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (1796-1855)
18. Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (1732-1797)
9. Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (1759-1828)
19. Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1736-1798)[7]
2. Grand Duke Constantine Nicholaievich of Russia (1827-1892)
20. Frederick William II of Prussia (1744-1797)
10. Frederick William III of Prussia (1770-1840)
21. Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (1751-1805)
5. Charlotte of Prussia (1798-1860)
22. Karl II Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1741-1816)[8]
11. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776-1810)
23. Friederike Karoline Luise Prinzessin von Hessen-Darmstadt (1752-1782)[8]
1. Olga Konstantinovna of Russia (1851-1926)
24. Ernst Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1727-1780)
12. Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1763-1834)
25. Ernestine Augustine Sophie von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1740-1786)[9]
6. Joseph Georg Friedrich Ernst Karl, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1789-1868)
26. Karl II Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1741-1816)[6]
13. Charlotte Georgine Herzogin von Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1769-1818)[6]
27. Friederike Karoline Luise Prinzessin von Hessen-Darmstadt (1752-1782)[6]
3. Alexandra Iosifovna of Altenburg (1830-1911)
28. Friedrich II Eugen Heinrich Herzog von Württemberg (1732-1797)[10]
14. Ludwig Friedrich Alexander Herzog von Württemberg (1756-1817)[5]
29. Friederike Dorothea Prinzessin von Brandenburg-Schwedt (1736-1798)[10]
7. Amelie Theresa Luise Wilhelmine Philippina Herzogin von Württemberg (1799-1848)[5]
30. Karl Christian Fürst von Nassau-Weilburg (1735-1788)[11]
15. Henriette Prinzessin von Nassau-Weilburg) (1780-1857)[5]
31. Wilhelmina Karolina van Oranje-Nassau, Princess of Orange (1743-1787)[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c The Times (London) Monday 21 June 1926 p.19 col.A
  2. ^ John Campbell and Philip Sherrard, Modern Greece (Ernest Benn, London, 1968) p.198
  3. ^ The Times (London) Tuesday 26 November 1901 p.9 col.C
  4. ^ Edward S Forster, A Short History of Modern Greece 1821–1956 3rd edition (Methuen and Co., London, 1958) p.198
  5. ^ a b c Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
  6. ^ a b c Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
  7. ^ Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
  8. ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
  9. ^ Lundy, Daryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
  10. ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007
  11. ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, retrieved October 23, 2007

Titles

  • Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia (1851–1867)
  • Her Majesty The Queen of the Hellenes (1867–1913)
  • Her Majesty Queen Olga of Greece (1913–1926)
  • Her Majesty The Queen Regent (1920)

Through her life in Greece (1867–1926) she was widely referred to as Her Majesty The Queen Olga.

Olga Constantinovna of Russia
Born: 3 September 1851 Died: 18 June 1926
Greek royalty
Preceded by Queen Consort of Greece
27 October, 1867 – 18 March, 1913 		Succeeded by

External links

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