Şehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul ( ota, شہزادہ محمد ارطغرل; 5 November 1912 – 2 July 1944) was an Ottoman prince, the only son of Sultan

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ota, محمد سادس ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; tr, VI. Mehmed or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as Şahbaba () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the 36th and last Sultan of the O ...

and his wife

Müveddet Kadın ota, مودت قادین , house = Çıhçı (by birth) Ottoman (by marriage) , father = Kato Davut Çıhcı , mother = Ayşe Hanım , birth_name = Şadiye Çıhçı , birth_date = 12 October 1893 , birth_place = De ...

Early life

Şehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul was born on 5 June 1912 in his father's mansion in Çengelköy. His father was

, son of

Abdulmejid I Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the ...

and Gülüstü Hanım. His mother was

, daughter of Kato Davut Çıhcı and Ayşe Hanım. He was the only son and fourth child born to his father and the only child of his mother. Ertuğrul was educated privately. His tutor was Kaymakam Emin Bey, who taught literature in the imperial school.

Life in exile

When his father left Turkey on 17 November 1922, he only took Ertuğul with him, and a small number of Palace officials with him. The other members of the family, including his mother, later joined them in

Sanremo Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...

in 1924. He and his mother were assigned one floor in his father's villa. After his father's death in 1926, Ertuğrul, who was then fourteen years old, left his mother, and went to live in with in elder half-sister,

Sabiha Sultan ota, رقیه صبیحه سلطان , house = Ottoman , house-type = Dynasty , father = Mehmed VI , mother = Nazikeda Kadın , birth_date = 2 April 1894 , birth_place = Ortaköy Palace, Ortaköy, Istanbul, Ottoman ...

. His mother meanwhile went to Egypt, married a Turk there, and then taking the advantage of the law allowing the widows of the sultans to return to Turkey, moved back to Istanbul, and settled in the mansion in Çengelköy, which she jointly owned. Ertuğrul always refused to accept his mother's second marriage, and never saw her again. He was then enrolled in a boarding school in

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

, where he studied for several years. Ertuğrul was often seen at the Maadi Sporting Club lurking in the shady alleys separating the tennis courts from the swimming pool. Certain wags claimed the prince hung around blind spots in anticipation of ambushing unsuspecting Maadi belles. In fact, the result of a failed ambush led to his suspension from the club for an entire month.

Death

Ertuğrul died at the age of thirty-one at Cairo, Egypt on 5 November 1944. He had fallen sick during a tennis match, and died few hours later of an unidentified illness. He was buried in the mausoleum of Abbas Hilmi Pasha, Cairo.

Honour

Order of the House of Osman The Order of the House of Osman ( ota, نشانِ خاندانِ آلِ عثمان) was an order of the Ottoman Empire founded on 31 August 1893 by Sultan Abdul Hamid II. It was awarded to senior male and female members of the Imperial family an ...

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sehzade Mehmed Ertuğrul 1912 births 1944 deaths 20th-century people of the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Ottoman royalty Sons of Ottoman sultans People from Istanbul Disease-related deaths in Egypt