Safiye Ünüvar was an Ottoman educator and memoir writer.

Life

She was educated at Women's Teacher's Training College, Istanbul, and employed as the governess of the Ottoman princesses at the Palace School between 1915 and 1924. She was the first woman teacher with a formal education and a degree to be engaged as a teacher in the

Ottoman Imperial Harem The Imperial Harem () of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the concubines, wives, servants (both female slaves and eunuchs), female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (serag ...

. She was highly respected and she was a close friend of

Dilfirib Kadın Dilfirib Kadın (, "''deceitful heart''"; 1890 – 1952) was the fifth and last consort of Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled muc ...

, consort of Sultan

Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd (; or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a Constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarch. He had ...

. She was the teacher of grandchildren of Sultan Mehmed V, especially the

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

Şehzade 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 Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin was born on 26 August 1873 in his fathe ...

. She also helped Ziyaeddin himself with algebra lessons and medical notes.

Memoirs

She published her memoirs in 1964. Her memoirs are a valuable source about the Ottoman Imperial Harem. Alongside

Filizten Hanım Filizten Hanım (; 1862 – 1945; meaning "Tendril bodied" or "big eyes") was the last consort of Sultan Murad V of the Ottoman Empire. Life Filizten Hanım was born in 1861 or 1862. At Istanbul her name according to the custom of the Ott ...

, consort of Sultan Murad V,

Nevzad Hanım Nevzad Hanım (; "''young heroine''"; born Nimet Bargu and previously Nevzad Kalfa, after 1928 Nimet Seferoğlu; 2 March 1902 – 23 June 1992) was the fifth and last consort of Sultan Mehmed VI of the Ottoman Empire. She was the last woman to m ...

consort of

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as ''Şahbaba'' () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the penultimate Ottoman Cal ...

, Ayşe Sultan, daughter of Sultan

Abdülhamid 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 period of decline wit ...

Leyla Achba Leyla Gülefşan Achba (10 August 1898 – 6 November 1931) was an Abkhazian princess. She was a lady-in-waiting to Nazikeda Kadın, wife of Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She is known for writing memoirs, which give det ...

and

Rumeysa Aredba Rumeysa Hayrıdil Aredba (born Princess Hatice Aredba; 1873 - 1927) was an Abkhazian princess. She was a lady-in-waiting to Nazikeda Kadın, wife of Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. She is known for writing memoirs, which giv ...

, ladies-in-waiting, she was one of few women to have described the life of the Ottoman Imperial Harem in her memoirs; she is also the only employee of the Imperial Harem to have written her memoirs.Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010). The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Safiye Unuvar Royal governesses Courtiers from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century educators 20th-century memoirists 20th-century women writers from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Women memoirists