Did You Know That Architect

The oldest living member of the Ottoman dynasty has died today in Istanbul where she was born.

Neslişah Sultan was the last lady sultan who was registered in the Ottoman Dynasty book in Dolmabahçe Palace in 1921. 

The granddaughter of the last Ottoman sultan Vahdeddin and the last Caliph Abdülmecid Efendi, Neslişah Sultan died in Istanbul, at the age of 91.

When the whole Ottoman dynasty was exiled in 1924, Neslişah Sultan who was three went to France with her family and ended up moving to Egypt where she became the bride of the last Egyptian King and lived there until she was faced with another exile and moved to France. In 1963 she came back to Istanbul, nine years after the law was passed to allow female family members of the dynasty to come back to Turkey.

Neslişah Sultan had acquired the title to be the oldest among the Ottoman dynasty since Ertuğrul Osman Osmanoğlu passed away in 2009. Besides Turkish, she was fluent in French, English, German and Arabic.

(The photo is from the book of Murat Bardakçı, ‘Son Osmanlılar’)