Michael I of Romania

King Michael (Romanian Mihai) of Romania (born October 25, 1921) was the son of King Carol II and reigned from July 20, 1927 to June 8, 1930, and again from September 6, 1940 until December 30, 1947.

Michael became King for the first time on the death of his grandfather Ferdinand following King Carol's renunciation of the throne (December 1925). However he was shortly thereafter deposed by his father after only three years on the throne. He resumed the crown on King Carol's abdication a decade later, reigning over a country governed in practice by the pro-German regime of Marshal Ion Antonescu.

The King dismissed Prime Minister Antonescu as Soviet forces entered Romania in August 1944 following the country's ill-fated intervention on Germany's side in World War II. In March, Michael subsequently was forced to appoint a pro-Soviet government dominated by the Communist Party of Romania. On July 6, 1945 he was decorated with the Soviet Order of Victory.

The Communists ultimately decreed his deposition and exile from the country in 1947.Michael went first exile to London, UK , later he went to exile to Switzerland.
He was stripped of his Romanian citizenship, which he only regained in 1997 when he returned back to Romania

He was not allowed to return until 1997 when he made three-week visit to his home county. He still lives in Switzerland, in the city of Geneva.

See also