Family and Early Life
Alexander was born on 1 August 1893 (20 July in the Julian calendar), the second son of Crown Prince Constantine of Greece (1868–1923) and his wife Princess Sophia of Prussia (1870–1932). His father was the eldest son and heir-apparent of King George I of Greece (1845–1913) and his wife Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia (1851–1926); his mother was the daughter of Emperor Frederick III of Germany (1831–1888) and his wife Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (1840–1901).
Alexander therefore had the genealogical peculiarity of being a great-grandson of both King Christian IX of Denmark, nicknamed the grandfather of Europe, and of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, nicknamed the grandmother of Europe. He was also the nephew of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and a cousin of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and King George V of the United Kingdom.
Read more about this topic: Alexander Of Greece
Famous quotes containing the words family and, family, early and/or life:
“O God, and the wedding! All her family and her friends
and only a handful of mine all scroungy and bearded
just wait to get at the drinks and food”
—Gregory Corso (b. 1930)
“There are one or two rules,
Half-a-dozen, maybe,
That all family fools,
Of whatever degree,
Must observe if they love their profession.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18361911)
“It is not too much to say that next after the passion to learn there is no quality so indispensable to the successful prosecution of science as imagination. Find me a people whose early medicine is not mixed up with magic and incantations, and I will find you a people devoid of all scientific ability.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (18391914)
“Whats terrible is that theres nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.”
—Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (18181883)