Leyla Bedir Khan (or Bedirxan) (1903,

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

1986,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a ballet dancer and a Kurdish princess of the

Bedir Khan Bedir Khan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bedir Khan Beg * Emin Ali Bedir Khan * Bedri Pasha Bedir Khan, Kurdish Ottoman politician * Abdürrezzak Bedir Khan * Leyla Bedir Khan * Celadet Bedir Khan * Kamuran Alî Bedir ...

family.

Biography

Leyla Bedir Khan's birthdate is disputed, but it was likely 31 July 1903 as she was born in Constantinople. Leyla herself said, she was born in 1908, but her father was in prison in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

between 1906 and 1910. She was born into a noble household to

Abdürrezzak Bedir Khan Abdürrezzak Bedir Khan (1864 in Constantinople – 1918) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman diplomat, Kurds, Kurdish politician and a member of the Bedir Khan family. Education After he graduated from school, he entered into the Ottoman administrat ...

, a descendant of Bedir Khan Beg and Henriette Ornik, a dentist of

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

origin. Her first years she passed in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, but her family soon settled in Egypt, where she grew up with the diplomatic society in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. After her father's death, she and her mother went to live in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where Leyla took her first dancing lessons. To complete her secondary education, she attended a school in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...

, Switzerland. She started a dancing career afterwards and by 1924 she starred at the Concert Hall in Vienna. Leyla left for France to pursue her career. While staying in Paris, she studied dances of the Indian and Persian cultures as well as of the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

rites for a year. She performed at opera houses in Europe and the United States. She was the first Kurdish ballet dancer to appear at the opera house

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1932 and performed in the New York Worlds Fair of 1939. About her choreography of her oriental dances it was reported she said she actually didn't really learn the dances she performed, she improvised, while using mostly her arms and body and not so much her legs. She was able to include dances from the different cultures through which she went through in life, such as Egyptian and Assyrian, into her

repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

. During her career, she was often announced as a Kurdish princess or a Kurdish star. After World War II she decided to end her career as a performing dancer and opened a dancing school in Paris.Henning, Barbara (2018-04-03),p.603 The French painter Jean Target depicted her dancing and the Mesopotamia Dance Company staged the piece Leyla in her memory in 2015.

Personal life

Leyla Bedir Khan and Henri Touache married in 1930. The couple became parents to a daughter, named Nevin. Leyla died in Paris in 1986 and was buried in the cemetery of Saint-Cloud.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedir Khan, Leyla Kurdish actresses 20th-century ballet dancers Kurdish dance 1900s births 1986 deaths Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Egypt