Died By Monkey Bite

Alexander of Greece ruled briefly from 1917 until 1920. He became king during World War I because his father, Constantine I, “had German sympathies.” Constantine was married to Kaiser Wilhelm’s sister, and he figured Germany would win, but he wanted Greece to avoid any entanglements that could draw them into the war.

Ultimately, while officially neutral, Greece was under tremendous pressure to cooperate with the Allies, who possessed the military and economic power to pressure Greece significantly. Greece’s strategic location virtually ensured a political struggle would ensue inside of the nation, and the Allies forced Constantine I to abdicate.

Imagine becoming the King of Greece at 23 years old, right in the middle of the biggest war the world had ever seen—and the two biggest powers were playing tug-of-war over your country. Alexander could never shake the reputation that he was a puppet of the Allied powers.

Greece did expand under his controversial reign, but his marriage to (gasp!) a commoner in 1919 forced him to flee temporarily.

Then, he returned to Greece only to die by a monkey bite.

That’s right—a 20th century head of state died by monkey bite.

Alexander wasn’t the first ruler people would write about being killed by animals, but he might be the first case we know happened for real.

The so-called first human pharaoh of Egypt, Menes—credited with unifying Upper and Lower Egypt into something akin to the first empire—is said to have been killed by a hippopotamus. Unfortunately, this is the stuff of legend. Menes is probably not one person, and the death was first written down thousands of years later. Hippos were deeply symbolic animals in Egyptian mythology, so we have to take this with a healthy dose of salt.

Much more recently, Jung Bahadur Rana, the prime minister for Nepal from 1846-1877, is said to have been killed by a tiger. It’s hard to come up with a more badass way to go! However, even though this took place in the 19th century, myth and mystery surround Rana’s death.

In the 20th century, another prime minister is said to have suffered a similar (but also very different) fate. Alfred Deakin was the second ever PM of Australia, serving from 1903 through 1910, just as young Alexander of Greece was probably playing with young monkeys. Unfortunately, he probably had dementia, and a stroke led to an accelerated decline. This might be why rumors that Deakin was bitten by a spider, and that’s what sped up his death, have persisted.

Alexander of Greece really did die by monkey bite, giving truth to the lie that rulers never really die this way. It’s intriguing to wonder what other interesting deaths history currently has hidden from our view.

What do all these fake deaths say about how we (humans) like to remember the past? What lessons are we trying to pass along? Or, are these legendary animal deaths just interesting stories, designed to amuse the listener or reader?

Let’s talk about the juncture of absurdly symbolic deaths and global leadership today.