Duke George of Oldenburg

Duke Peter Frederick George of Oldenburg (; 9 May 1784 – 27 December 1812) was a younger son of Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his wife Duchess Frederica of Württemberg. He was a son-in-law of Paul I of Russia through marriage to his daughter Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia. He was referred to as a prince in Russia, Prince Georgy Petrovich Oldenburgsky.

Birth and family

George was born on 9 May 1784 to the then Prince Peter Frederick Louis of Holstein-Gottorp and his wife Duchess Frederica of Württemberg, a daughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg.

George had an elder brother, Duke Augustus of Oldenburg, who was one year older than him.

In 1785, when George was one year old, his mother died from childbirth. His father never remarried.

Early life In 1785, when George was one year old, his father became Prince-Bishop of Lübeck and was furthermore appointed regent of the Duchy of Oldenburg for his incapacitated cousin William, Duke of Oldenburg.

From 1788 to 1803, George and his brother were educated at home under the supervision of their father. Together, the two princes studied at the University of Leipzig from 1803 to 1805. From 1805 to 1807 they travelled extensively in England and Scotland.

In the start of 1808, when Oldenburg was occupied by French and Dutch troops, George was sent to Russia to stay with his relatives, the Russian Imperial family. Upon his arrival, he was appointed Governor of Estonia.

Marriage

On 3 August 1809, George married Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, the fourth daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg and favorite sister of the Emperor Alexander I of Russia. The events behind their marriage began when Napoleon Bonaparte, hoping to secure a Russian alliance as well as a male heir, hinted his desire to marry Catherine after finalizing his divorce with Empress Joséphine. The Oldenburg family was later given back their duchy after Napoleon's defeat.

He was appointed governor on the Volga but died from typhoid fever in 1812. His death was a great blow to his wife, but she would go on to marry the future William I of Württemberg in 1816.

After her death in 1819, their children were raised by George's brother Grand Duke Augustus in Oldenburg.

Ancestry