George I of Greece

George I
George I, c. 1912
King of the Hellenes
Reign	30 March 1863 – 18 March 1913[a]
Enthronement	6 June 1863
Predecessor	Otto (as King of Greece)
Successor	Constantine I
Prime Ministers	See list Dimitrios Voulgaris Konstantinos Kanaris Zinovios Valvis Alexandros Koumoundouros Epameinondas Deligeorgis Dimitrios Voulgaris Benizelos Roufos Aristeidis Moraitinis Thrasyvoulos Zaimis Charilaos Trikoupis Konstantinos Kanaris Theodoros Deligiannis Dimitrios Valvis Konstantinos Konstantopoulos Sotirios Sotiropoulos Nikolaos Deligiannis Dimitrios Rallis Alexandros Zaimis Georgios Theotokis Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis Stephanos Dragoumis Eleftherios Venizelos
Born	Prince William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (1845-12-24)24 December 1845 Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	18 March 1913(1913-03-18) (aged 67)[a] Thessaloniki[b]
Burial	Royal Cemetery, Tatoi Palace, Greece
Spouse	Olga Constantinovna of Russia ​ ​ (m. 1867)​
Issue	Constantine I of Greece Prince George Princess Alexandra Prince Nicholas Princess Maria Princess Olga Prince Andrew Prince Christopher
Names Christian William Ferdinand Adolph George
Greek	Γεώργιος Αʹ (Geórgios I)
House	Glücksburg
Father	Christian IX of Denmark
Mother	Louise of Hesse-Kassel
Signature

George I (Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, romanized: Geórgios I; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination on 18 March 1913.

Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhagen, and seemed destined for a career in the Royal Danish Navy. He was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the unpopular King Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Second French Empire and the Russian Empire. He married Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia in 1867, and became the first monarch of a new Greek dynasty. Two of his sisters, Alexandra and Dagmar, married into the British and Russian royal families. Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexander III of Russia were his brothers-in-law, and George V of the United Kingdom, Christian X of Denmark, Haakon VII of Norway, and Nicholas II of Russia were his nephews.

George's reign of almost 50 years (the longest in modern Greek history) was characterized by territorial gains as Greece established its place in pre–World War I Europe. Britain ceded the Ionian Islands peacefully in 1864, while Thessaly was annexed from the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Greece was not always successful in its territorial ambitions; it was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War (1897). During the First Balkan War, after Greek troops had captured much of Greek Macedonia, George was assassinated in Thessaloniki.
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