George, Duke of Mecklenburg (; – 6 July 1963) was the head of the

House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Polabian origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), ...

from 1934 until his death. Through his father, he was a descendant of Emperor

Paul I of Russia Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the Pauline Laws, laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules ...

Early life

He was born in Oranienbaum as Count George of Carlow; he was the youngest child and only son of Duke George Alexander of Mecklenburg (6 June 1859 –

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 5 December 1909) and his

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

wife (m. Remplin, 6 June 1889) Nataliya Fyodorovna Vanlarskaya, Countess of Carlow (

, 16 May 1858 –

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, 14 March 1921), daughter of Fyodor Ardalionovich Vanlarsky ( Dagoutze Chavli,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, 23 December 1835 – 2 February 1903) and wife Mariya Fyodorovna Uvarova, and granddaughter of Ardalion Alexeievich Vanlarsky, born in Poretchie, near

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

, and wife Tatyana, daughter of Mariya Mikhailovna Litvinova. Because his parents marriage was morganatic, at birth he was denied the title Duke of Mecklenburg; instead his title came from his mother, who had been created Countess of Carlow on 18 March 1890 by her husband's uncle Grand Duke Friedrich Wilhelm of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. When his father died in 1909, his uncle Duke Charles Michael was appointed

guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

of George and his sisters Katharina, Marie and Natalia by Grand Duke Adolf Friedrich V of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. After the 1917

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

George and his family fled Russia heading first to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

before later moving to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 11 September 1928 George was adopted by his uncle Duke Charles Michael, who was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The adoption was confirmed in the courts in

Malchin Malchin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte (district), Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. History The name of the town is of Slavic origin. It was granted town rights in ...

on 5 October 1928 and as a result he took his uncle and adopted father's surname of Mecklenburg. Following his adoption, George assumed the title Duke of Mecklenburg with the style

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style (manner of address), style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Until 1918, it was also associated with the p ...

. This was confirmed by the head of the

Imperial House of Russia The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Nich ...

, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich on 18 July 1929 and recognised on 23 December by Grand Duke Friedrich Franz IV of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Duke George studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

and became a Doctor of Economics and Social Sciences.

Head of the House

On 6 December 1934, his uncle Duke Charles Michael died, and George succeeded him as head of the

. He lived with his family at Schloss Remplin until April 1940, when the main part of the palace was burnt down. The Grand Ducal family then moved to Grunewald, where they lived until their home was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in February 1944. In August 1944, George was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

and sent to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

government, where he remained until February 1945. Following his release, Duke George and his family moved to

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen ( Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen, ...

at the invitation of Princess Margarete of Hohenzollern (wife of

Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern () (30 August 1891 – 6 February 1965) was the eldest son of William, Prince of Hohenzollern and Princess Maria Teresa of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. He had a twin brother, Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern- ...

) in March 1945. On 18 December 1950 the

House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Polabian origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), ...

confirmed the decisions made in 1929 regarding George's title, and he assumed the style of

Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adjec ...

while his status as head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was also confirmed. At the same time, the Count of Carlow title was abolished. George died in

of a heart attack. He was succeeded as head of the Grand Ducal House by his eldest son Duke Georg Alexander.

Marriages and children

Duke George was married firstly in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland, on 7 October 1920 to

Irina Mikhailovna Raievskya Irina Mikhailovna Raievskya (; 18 August 1892 – 22 January 1955), was a Russian and German noble. She was Duchess of Mecklenburg by her marriage to her second husband, George, Duke of Mecklenburg (), who was the head of the House of Mecklenburg ...

, Countess

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

(

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

, 18 August 1892 –

, 22 January 1955) the widow of Count Alexander Mikhailovich Tolstoy (

, 17 January 1888 – Mishkor,

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, 19 February 1918), daughter of Mikhail Nikolaievich Rayevsky (1841–1893) and Princess Mariya Grigoryevna Gagarina (

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, 14 June 1851 –

, 2 August 1941) and granddaughter of Nikolai Nikolaievich Rayevsky (14 September 1801 – 1843) and wife (m. 22 January 1839) Anya Mikhailovna Borozdine, and Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Gagarin and wife Sofiya Andreievna Dashkova.

Irina Irina or Iryna (Cyrillic: Ирина, Ірина) is a feminine given name of Ancient Greek origin, commonly borne by followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and a ...

was daughter of the Rayevski family, who were one of heirs of the famed

Grigori Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

, Prince of Tauria, descending from the childless Prince's sister. The couple had four children though one son Alexander born on 3 August 1922 died at the age of just eighteen days. The children who survived into adulthood were: *

Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg (; 27 August 1921 – 26 January 1996) was the head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz from 1963 until his death. Early life Georg Alexander was born in Nice, France, the eldest son of the then Count Geor ...

(27 August 1921 – 26 January 1996) he married

Archduchess Ilona of Austria Archduchess Ilona of Austria (; 20 April 1927 – 12 January 2011) was a member of the Palatine (Kingdom of Hungary), Hungarian Palatine branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. She was married and later divorced from the late head of the House of ...

on 20 April 1946 and they were divorced on 12 December 1974. They have four children. * Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg (15 November 1924 – 8 July 1962) she married Hassan Sayed Kamil (1918–1991). on 18 February 1955. They have a daughter: ** Sheila Kamil (26 July 1958 – 21 March 2018) * Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg (14 March 1933 – 23 July 2018) he married Princess Maria Margarethe of Hohenzollern (daughter of

Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden Franz Joseph Maria Ludwig Anton Thassilo Prinz von Hohenzollern-Emden (English: ''Prince Francis Joseph of Hohenzollern-Emden''; 30 August 1891 – 3 April 1964) was a member of the Roman Catholic branch of the House of Hohenzollern. He was born ...

) on 18 February 1965. In May 1956 George became engaged to

Archduchess Charlotte of Austria Archduchess Charlotte of Austria (; 1 March 1921 – 23 July 1989) was a daughter of Emperor Charles I of Austria and his wife Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. She was also known by the name Charlotte de Bar while a welfare worker in the United ...

, a daughter of the last Austrian Emperor,

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and

Zita of Bourbon-Parma Zita of Bourbon-Parma (Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese; 9 May 1892 – 14 March 1989) was the wife of Charles I, the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. She was also the last Empress o ...

. They were married in a civil ceremony on 21 July 1956 in

Pöcking Pöcking is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the location of Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria's childhood summer home, Possenhofen Castle. Transport The district has a railway station, , t ...

followed by a religious ceremony four days later.

Ancestry

References

* * * For the Von Lahr-Larsky family, see family tree edited by V.A.Arseniev - Pinakothek - München

External links

Biography of Georg, Duke of MecklenburgNewsreel footage of his wedding to Archduchess Charlotte of Austria
{{DEFAULTSORT:George Of Mecklenburg, Duke 1899 births 1963 deaths People from Lomonosov People from Petergofsky Uyezd House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Pretenders to the Mecklenburg thrones University of Freiburg alumni Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Russian adoptees