Safvet Neslişah Sultan (; December 1925 – 30 May 2014), also known as Küçük Neslişah Sultan, was an
Ottoman princess, the daughter of
Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir
Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir Efendi (; 16 January 1878 – 16 March 1944) was an Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his consort Bidar Kadın.
Early life
Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir was born on 16 January 1878 in the Yıldız P ...
, son of Sultan
Abdul Hamid II
Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
.
Early life
NesliÅŸah Sultan was born on 25 December 1925 in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, three years after the dissolution of
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Having been born after the exile of the dynasty, she never carried the title of Sultana by full right. Her father was
Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir
Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir Efendi (; 16 January 1878 – 16 March 1944) was an Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his consort Bidar Kadın.
Early life
Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir was born on 16 January 1878 in the Yıldız P ...
, son of
Abdul Hamid II
Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
and
Bidar Kadın
Bidar Kadın (; "''enlightened''"; 5 May 1855 – 13 January 1918) was a consort of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.
Early life
Of Kabardian Circassian origin, Bidar Kadın was born on 5 May 1855 in Kobuleti. She was daughter ...
.
Her mother was Fatma Meziyet Hanım, daughter of Mecid Bey, colonel of Ottoman Empire. She was the seventh and last child and second daughter of her father, and the second child of her mother, she had a sister Bidar Sultan, one year elder than her.
In 1940, her family moved to
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
due to ongoing
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 ...
, and NesliÅŸah lived 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 million[Vichy France
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...]
, and 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 ...
,
occupied France
The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...
, next to her aunt
AyÅŸe Sultan.
Marriages
NesliÅŸah Sultan moved to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, where she married Avni Reda Bey in 1953. He became a
Damat
Damat (, from {{langx, fa, {{nq, داماد (dâmâd) "bridegroom") was an official Ottoman title describing men that entered the imperial House of Osman by means of marriage, literally becoming the bridegroom to the Ottoman sultan and the dyn ...
. The couple's first child, a son, ''Sultanzade'' Salih Reda Bey, was born in 1954, followed by a second son ''Sultanzade'' Ömer Reda Bey, born in 1957/1959, both born in Cairo.
The two later moved to
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, where they divorced in 1969.
She then married Mehmed Åžefik Ziya (born 1894),
an American citizen of
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...
ethnicity, and widower of
Şükriye Sultan
Hatice Şükriye Sultan (; "''respectful lady''" and "''grateful''"; 24 February 1906 – 1 April 1972) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of heir to the throne Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin, son of Sultan Abdulaziz, and Leman Hanım.
Early life
Åž ...
, daughter of Crown Prince
Åžehzade Yusuf Izzeddin
Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin Efendi (; ; 11 October 1857 – 1 February 1916) was an Ottoman prince, the eldest son of Sultan Abdülaziz and his first consort Dürrinev Kadın.
Early life and education
Åžehzade Yusuf Izzeddin was born on 29 Septe ...
, He became a Damat. She was widowed at his death in 1980.
Later life and death
On 2 April 2000, she attended the funeral of
Mihrimah Sultan, daughter of
Åžehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin
Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin Efendi (; 26 August 1873 – 30 January 1938) was an Ottoman prince, firstborn of Sultan Mehmed V, born by his first consort Kamures Kadın.
Early life
Åžehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin was born on 26 August 1873 in his fathe ...
. On 2 April 2012, she and her sons attended the funeral of
NesliÅŸah Sultan, daughter of
Şehzade Ömer Faruk
Şehzade Ömer Faruk Efendi (; also Ömer Faruk Osmanoğlu; 27 February 1898 – 28 March 1969) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman prince, the son of the last caliph of Muslim world Abdulmejid II and his first consort Şehsuvar Hanım. He was also th ...
and
Sabiha Sultan
Rukiye Sabiha Sultan (; "''charm''" and "''morning''" or "''beautiful''"; after 1952 Sabiha Osmanoğlu; 19 March 1894 – 26 August 1971) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman princess, the third and last daughter of Sultan Mehmed VI and his first wife ...
.
Neslişah Sultan died on 30 May 2014, at the age of eighty-eight at Marmara Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul. She was the last surviving child of Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir, and the last surviving grandchild of Abdul Hamid. Her funeral was attended by her relatives and members of Ottoman dynasty. She was buried in Karacaahmet Cemetery, alongside her mother Fatma Meziyet Hanım.
Issue
Together with Anvi Reda Bey, NesliÅŸah had two sons:
* ''Sultanzade'' Salih Reda Bey (born 1954, Cairo);
* ''Sultanzade'' Ömer Reda Bey (born 1957/1959, Cairo), married on 27 July 1995 in Swiss Hotel, Istanbul,
to Ceylan Fethiye Reda
(née Palay, born 1971),
and has issue, two daughters:
** Meziyet Dilara Reda
(born 1998)
** NesliÅŸah Reda
(born 2000)
Ancestry
References
{{Ottoman Dynasty, state=collapsed
1925 births
2014 deaths
Royalty from Istanbul
20th-century Ottoman princesses