Draga Obrenović | |||||
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Queen consort of Serbia | |||||
Tenure | 5 August 1900 – 11 June 1903 | ||||
Born |
Gornji Milanovac, Principality of Serbia |
11 September 1864||||
Died | 11 June 1903 Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia |
(aged 38)||||
Burial | St. Mark's Church, Belgrade | ||||
Spouse | Svetozar Mašin (1st) Alexander I of Serbia (2nd) |
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House | Obrenović | ||||
Father | Pantelija Milićević Lunjevica | ||||
Mother | Anđelija Koljević | ||||
Religion | Eastern Orthodox Christian |
Full name | |
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Draginja Milićević Lunjevica |
Draginja "Draga" Obrenović (Serbian Cyrillic: Драга Обреновић; 11 September 1864 – 11 June 1903), formerly Mašin (Машин), was the Queen consort of King Aleksandar Obrenović of the Kingdom of Serbia. She was formerly a lady-in-waiting to Aleksandar's mother, Queen Natalija.
Draga () was the fourth daughter of Panta Lunjevica, a prefect of the Aranđelovac area, and wife Anđelija (née Koljević). Draga was the sixth of seven siblings. She had two brothers, Nikola and Nikodije, and four sisters, Hristina, Đina, Ana and Vojka. Draga's mother was a dipsomaniac and her father died in a lunatic asylum.
Draga was the granddaughter of Nikola Lunjevica, a close comrade of Prince Miloš, Aleksandar's great-granduncle. Her paternal grandmother was Đurđija Čarapić, a relative of vojvoda Ilija Čarapić (died 1844), husband of Karađorđe Petrović's daughter Stamenka Karađorđević. 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.
The couple married on 5 August 1900 in a formal ceremony. 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 rumors that Aleksandar would name Draga's elder brother as heir-presumptive to the throne. Both brothers were serving as army officers at the time of the marriage and appear to have been unpopular with their peers.