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Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (February 26, 1861 - September 10, 1948), born Prince Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the Prince Regnant and later King of Bulgaria as well as an author, botanist and philatelist.
BiographyFerdinand was born in Vienna, a prince of the Kohary branch of the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He grew up in the cosmopolitan environment of Austro-Hungarian high nobility and also in their ancestral lands in Slovakia and in Germany. The Kohary, descending from a noble Slovak family of Hungary, was very wealthy, holding for example the princely lands of Čabrad and Sitno, in what is now Slovakia. The family's property was also augmented by Clémentine of Orléans' remarkable dowry.
Ferdinand had some ancestry from medieval rulers of Bulgaria, descents from both his mother's and father's side: Bulgarian ancestry of royals of Bulgaria. Ferdinand was proclaimed Prince Regnant of autonomous Bulgaria on 7 July 1887 in the Gregorian calendar (the "New Style" used hereinafter), ten months after the abdication of his predecessor Prince Alexander. Bulgaria's domestic political life was dominated during the early years of his reign by liberal party leader Stefan Stambolov, whose foreign policy saw a marked cooling in relations with Russia, formerly seen as Bulgaria's protector. Marriage and family
Following Maria Luisa's death (on 31 January 1899), Ferdinand married Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise, Princess Reuss-Köstritz, on 28 February 1908. Ferdinand's bisexuality was both well-known and exploited throughout European diplomatic circles. His regular holidays on Capri, then a famous haunt for wealthy gay men, was common knowledge in royal courts throughout Europe. It became the custom for visiting dignitaries seeking favour from Ferdinand to be accompanied by a handsome young equerry. A much recounted tale of First World War vintage centred around the occasion the Bulgarian war minister arrived at Ferdinand's quarters to discuss an urgent military matter, only to discover that Ferdinand had left for a picnic with a young man he had just met. Stambolov's fall (May 1894) and subsequent assassination (July 1895) paved the way for a reconciliation of Bulgaria with Russia, effected in February 1896 with the conversion of the infant Prince Boris from Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Independence and later yearsFerdinand became Tsar of Bulgaria upon that country's declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire on 5 October 1908 (celebrated on 22 September). The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at the Saint Forty Martyrs Church in Turnovo.
On 11 October 1915, the Bulgarian army attacked Serbia after signing a treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary which stated that Bulgaria would gain the territory she sought at the expense of Serbia. See Serbian Campaign (World War I) for details. At first the war went well, Serbia was defeated and Bulgaria took possession of the disputed land of Macedonia. For the next two years, the Bulgarian army fought a defensive war against the Allied army based in Greece. A small part of the Bulgarian army was involved in the conquest of Romania in 1916. Then, in the fall of 1918, the Bulgarian army was badly beaten by an attack from the Allied army in Greece. With his army shattered, King Ferdinand abdicated on October 3, 1918. Bulgaria surrendered to the Allies and once again, lost the territory it had fought for. He died in Burglassschloßen on September 10, 1948 in Coburg, Germany. Ferdinand I is buried there in St. Augustin's Catholic Church.
References
bg:Фердинанд I ca:Ferran I de Bulgària cy:Ferdinand I o Fwlgaria de:Ferdinand I. (Bulgarien) et:Ferdinand I (Bulgaaria) es:Fernando I de Bulgaria fr:Ferdinand Ier de Bulgarie ko:불가리아의 페르디난드 1세 mk:Цар Фердинанд nl:Ferdinand van Bulgarije ja:フェルディナンド1世 (ブルガリア王) pl:Ferdynand I Koburg pt:Fernando I da Bulgária ru:Фердинанд I (царь Болгарии) sk:Ferdinand I. (Bulharsko) sv:Ferdinand av Bulgarien zh:斐迪南一世 (保加利亞)
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