Türkan Hanımsultan (; "''queen''" or "''beautiful''"; 4 July 1919 – 25 December 1989) also Türkan Mayatepek or Türkan Enver, was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of

Naciye Sultan Emine Naciye Sultan (; "''benign/trustworthy''" and "''saved and freed''"; 25 October 1896 – 4 December 1957) called also Naciye Enver, was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Şehzade Selim Süleyman, son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. Early lif ...

and

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

Biography

Türkan Hanımsultan was born on 4 July 1919 in the Kuruçeşme Palace. Her father was

Ismail Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who was a part of the dictatorial triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas ...

, son of Ahmed Bey and Ayşe Dilara Hanım, and her mother was

, daughter of

Şehzade Selim Süleyman Şehzade Selim Süleyman (; 25 July 1860 – 16 July 1909) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I, and one of his consorts Serfiraz Hanım. Early life Şehzade Selim Süleyman was born on 25 July 1860 in the Do ...

and Ayşe Tarzıter Hanım. She had an older sister, Mahpeyker Hanımsultan and a younger brother, Sultanzade Ali Bey. She had a younger maternal half-sister,

Rana Hanımsultan Rana Hanımsultan, also known as Rana Eldem, (25 February 1926 – 14 April 2008) was an Ottoman princess and a French teacher. She was the daughter of Naciye Sultan, and Mehmet Kamil Killigil. Early life and education Rana Hanımsultan was bor ...

, from her mother's second marriage to Kamil Bey, younger brother of Türkan's father. In 1920, during her father's stay in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Türkan, her mother and sister Mahpeyker joined him, where her younger brother Sultanzade Ali Enver was born in 1921. Her father left for

Russian SSR Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

her family remained there. After his death in 1922, they returned to Istanbul. At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Türkan and her family settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and later in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionNeslişah Sultan, Hanzade Sultan and

Necla Sultan Necla Hibetullah ''Sultan'' (, "''feminine''" and "''gift of Allah''"; also Necla Osmanoğlu, 16 May 1926 – 6 October 2006) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter Şehzade Ömer Faruk, the son of the last caliph, Abdulmejid II, and Şehsuvar Ha ...

on every Sunday. In 1939, a special law was passed for Türkan and her siblings, which allowed them to return to Turkey, the law was effective on 25 May 1939, after which Türkan and her siblings returned to Istanbul. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Türkan along with her sister Mahpeyker were brought to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

by their uncle Nuri Pasha, however Ali chose to remain in Istanbul, due to studies, they both returned back to Istanbul in 1943. Türkan studied chemistry and went on to become a chemical engineer. She also taught chemistry at various schools. She also briefly worked for the

Turkish Radio and Television Corporation The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish: ) is the national public broadcasting, public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio broadcaster in Turkey. Before the introductio ...

(TRT). In 1945, Türkan married Hüveyda Mayatepek, an ambassador, and son of

Hasan Tahsin Mayatepek Hasan Tahsin Mayatepek was a Turkish diplomat. He got his surname from his position as Turkish ambassador in Mexico (31 March 1935 – 7 March 1938) where he concluded that the Mayan word for 'hill' () was the same word as in Turkish (''tepe''). ...

, also a diplomat, in Istanbul. The couple later settled in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, where their only son, Osman Mayatepek was born on 1 June 1950. Hüveyda died on 1 May 1973 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Türkan died on 25 December 1989 at the age of seventy in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey and was buried there.

Issue

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turkan Hanimsultan 1919 births 1989 deaths Royalty from Istanbul 20th-century Ottoman princesses 20th-century Turkish engineers Turkish chemical engineers