Draga Mašin

Draga Mašin Драга Машин
Queen Draga of Serbia.
Queen consort of Serbia
Tenure	5 August 1900  – 11 June 1903
Spouse	Svetozar Mašin Alexander I of Serbia
Full name
Draga Milićević Lunjevica
House	House of Obrenović
Father	Pantelija Milićević Lunjevica
Mother	Anđelija Koljević
Born	11 September 1864(1864-09-11) Gornji Milanovac, Serbia
Died	11 June 1903(1903-06-11) (aged 38) Belgrade, Serbia
Religion	Christian (Orthodox)

Draga Obrenović (Serbian: Драга Обреновић; née Milićević Lunjevica, Милићевић Луњевица; former Mašin, Машин) (11 September 1864 in Gornji Milanovac – 11 June 1903 (New Style) in Belgrade), also known as Queen Draga, was the queen and wife of King Aleksandar Obrenović of the Kingdom of Serbia. She was formerly a lady-in-waiting to Aleksandar's mother Queen Natalija.

Queen of Serbia

Draga (meaning Dear in English) was the fourth daughter of Pantelije Milićević Lunjevica, a prefect of the Aranđelovac area, and wife Anđelija Koljević. She was the granddaugther of a close fellow soldier of Aleksandar's great-granduncle (Nikola Milićević Lunjevica). At the time of her second marriage, she was the widow of Svetozar Mašin (1851-1886), a Czech civil engineer, and was twelve years older than Aleksandar. She had two brothers, Nikola (Nicholas) and Nikodije (Nicodemus), who died with her, and three sisters Hristina (Christine), Đina, Ana (Anne) and Vojka. Draga was the sixth of seven siblings.

Her paternal grandmother was Đurđija Čarapić^[1], a relative of Vojvoda Ilija Čarapić (d. 1844), husband of Karađorđe Petrović's daughter Stamenka Karađorđević.

Her mother was dipsomaniac and her father died in a lunatic asylum.^[2]

They married on 5 August 1900. When Aleksandar announced their engagement, public opinion turned against him. He was viewed as a besotted young fool in the power of a wicked seductress. Dowager Queen Natalija bitterly opposed the marriage, and was exiled by her son, in part because of it. His many arbitrary and unpopular acts were blamed on Draga's influence. There were rumours that Aleksandar would name Draga's brother as heir to the throne.

Assassination

This last rumour was what led to the royal couple's assassination. On 11 June 1903, a group of army officers invaded the royal palace, led by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, whose nickname was "Apis". They found Aleksandar and Draga hiding in a large built-in wardrobe and savagely murdered them, throwing their mutilated bodies from a palace balcony onto piles of garden manure.^[3]

Royal titles
Preceded by Natalija Keşco	Queen Consort of Serbia 5 August 1900 – 11 June 1903	Vacant Title next held by Maria of Romania as Queen Consort of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes

References

1. ^ Milićević
2. ^ Vucinich, Wayne S. (2006). Serbia Between East and West. The Events of 1903-1908. ACLS History E-Book Project. pp. 324. ISBN 9781597402422.
3. ^ C. L. Sulzberger, The Fall of Eagles, p.202, Crown Publishers, New York, 1977

Persondata
Name	Masin, Draga
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1861
Place of birth	Gornji Milanovac, Serbia
Date of death	1903
Place of death	Belgrade, Serbia