Neslişah Sultan, later Neslişah Osmanoğlu ( ota, نسل شاہ سلطان; 4 February 1921 – 2 April 2012) was an Ottoman princess, the paternal granddaughter of the last Ottoman

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Abdulmejid II Abdulmejid II ( ota, عبد المجید ثانی, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i sânî, tr, II. Abdülmecid, 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the only Caliph of the Republic of Turkey, and nominally the 3 ...

and his first wife,

Şehsuvar Hanım Şehsuvar Hanım ( ota, شهسوار خانم; 1881 – 1945; meaning "intrepid hero") was the first wife of Abdulmejid II, the last Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate. Life Of Turkish, or Ubykh origin, Şehsuvar Hanım was born in 1881. She marr ...

and maternal granddaughter of the last Ottoman

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

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 first wife, Nazikeda Kadın. She was the daughter of

Şehzade Ömer Faruk Şehzade Ömer Faruk ( ota, شهزادہ عمر فاروق; 27 February 1898 – 28 March 1969) was an Ottoman prince, the son of last caliph of Muslim world Abdulmejid II and Şehsuvar Hanım. He was the imperial son-in-law of Sultan Mehmed VI ...

and his first wife and cousin

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 ...

Early life

Neslişah Sultan was born on 4 February 1921 in Nişantaşi Palace, Constantinople. Her father was

, only son of Caliph

and

. Her mother was Sabiha Sultan, youngest daughter of Sultan

and Nazikeda Kadın. She had two younger sisters,

Hanzade Sultan Hanzade Sultan may refer to: * Hanzade Sultan (daughter of Ahmed I) Hanzade Sultan ( ota, خانزادہ سلطان, "''descendent of the Khan''"; 1609 - 21 September 1650) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–1 ...

, and Necla Sultan. Her birth was the final entry inscribed in the palace register of dynasty members, making her the last imperial member of the Ottoman family. At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Neslişah and her family settled in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where she was educated. Here she spent her childhood and adolescence, before moving to Egypt in 1938, where she received a proposal from Egyptian prince Hassan Toussoun, and despite protests, she was engaged to him. However, later she broke off the engagement.

Marriage

In 1940,

Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim Damat Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim Beyefendi (20 February 1899 – 1 December 1979) was an Egyptian prince and heir apparent to the throne of Egypt and Sudan from 1899 to 1914. Upon the abdication of Farouk of Egypt, King Farouk following the Eg ...

, son of Egypt's last

khedive Khedive (, ota, خدیو, hıdiv; ar, خديوي, khudaywī) was an honorific title of Persian origin used for the sultans and grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire, but most famously for the viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.Adam Mestyan"Kh ...

Abbas Hilmi II Abbas II Helmy Bey (also known as ''ʿAbbās Ḥilmī Pāshā'', ar, عباس حلمي باشا) (14 July 1874 – 19 December 1944) was the last Khedive ( Ottoman viceroy) of Egypt and Sudan, ruling from 8January 1892 to 19 December 1914 ...

send a proposal to Neslişah, as he was willing to marry her. Neslişah didn't agree and relations between her and father got cold, following which she agreed. The marriage took place on 26 September 1940, and she was given the title ''Sahibat-al Sumuw Al-Amira Neslishah'' (Her Highness Princess Neslishah). Two years earlier, Abdel Moneim, heir to a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

50,000,000 fortune, had obtained permission from his second cousin King

Farouk of Egypt Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 193 ...

to marry Princess

Myzejen Zogu Princess Myzejen Zogu of Albania ( sq, Princeshë Myzejen Zogu të Shqipërisë; 6 February 1905 – 10 April 1969), was an Albanian princess. Initially excluded from public life and seen little in public, the Princess later represented her brothe ...

(1909–1969), sister of King

Zog I of Albania Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27 ...

. However, the marriage never took place and Prince Abdel Moneim married Neslişah instead. On 16 October 1941, she gave birth to Prince Abbas Hilmi. He was followed three years later by Princess Ikbal, born on 22 December 1944. When the Egyptian Free Officers Movement deposed King Farouk in the July 1952 Revolution, they chose Prince Abdel Moneim to serve as chairman of the three-member Regency Body established to assume the powers of Farouk's newly enthroned infant son

Fuad II Fuad II (, full name: Ahmed Fuad bin Farouk bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Muhammad Ali; born 16 January 1952), or alternatively Ahmed Fuad II, is a member of the Egyptian Muhammad Ali dynasty. He formally reigned as the last King of Egypt and the S ...

. The Regency Body was dissolved on 7 September 1952, and Abdel Moneim was appointed as sole

Prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

. In the absence of a Queen consort, Neslişah ''de facto'' served as such by virtue of her position as the wife of the Prince regent. Her few official appearances during her husband's regency focused on charity work. Like the royal consorts who preceded her, she attended sporting events such as polo matches and the international tennis tournament final. Prince Abdel Moneim's regency lasted ten months in all. The

Egyptian Revolutionary Command Council The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC; ''Majlis Qiyāda ath-Thawra'') was the body established to supervise the Republic of Egypt and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan after the Revolution of 1952. It initially selected Ali Maher Pasha as Prime Minister, ...

formally abolished the monarchy on 18 June 1953. In 1957, Abdel Moneim and Neslişah were arrested. Again forced into exile, Neslişah was released from prison after the

President of the Republic of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the national govern ...

intervened and demanded her release. She subsequently lived for a short time in Europe, then returned to her native Turkey. In 1963, she reclaimed Turkish citizenship, and took the surname Osmanoğlu. Prince Abdel Moneim died in 1979 in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where Princess Neslişah continued to live with her unmarried daughter Ikbal.

Death

Neslişah died of heart attack on 2 April 2012 at her home in Ortaköy, attended by her daughter. At the time of her death, Neslişah was the most senior Ottoman princess. After the deaths of Prince Burhaneddin Cem in 2008 and Prince

Ertuğrul Osman Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi ( ota, ارطغرل عثمان), also known as Osman Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu with a surname as required by the Turkish Republic (18 August 1912 – 23 September 2009), was a Prince of the Ottoman Empire and the 43rd H ...

in 2009, she was also the last surviving member of the Ottoman dynasty to have been born during the Ottoman era. A funeral service was held for her in Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque. She was buried in

Aşiyan Asri Cemetery The Aşiyan Asri Cemetery ( tr, Aşiyan Asri Mezarlığı) is a burial ground situated on Aşiyan between the Bebek and Rumelihisarı neighborhoods of the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. Many renowned intellectuals, writers and artists rest i ...

, next to her mother and sisters. The then President

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th President of Turkey, in office from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently served as both ...

presented a message of condolence to family members. Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

praised the late princess. "She was the poster-child for nobleness who carried the blood of Osman," he said in Parliament, referring to

Osman I Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...

, the Anatolian ruler who established the Ottoman Empire. "We remember her with high regard and our blessings."

Personality

A well cultured lady, Neslişah was fluent in French, English, German and Arabic and was also an avid skier, swimmer and equestrian. She was also interested in history, literature, geography, botany and the culture of cuisine. She was also highly respected by a number of significant conductors in the music world.

Honours

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 ...

, ''1922''

Ancestry

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neslisah, Fatima 1921 births 2012 deaths Egyptian princesses Muhammad Ali dynasty 20th-century Ottoman princesses Turkish expatriates in France Burials at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery