Refia Sultan (Ottoman Turkish: رفیعه سلطان, "exaltated"; 15 June 1891 – c. 1938) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Sazkar Hanım.
| Refia Sultan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 15 June 1891 Yıldız Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey) |
| Died | c. 1938 (aged 46–47) Beirut, Lebanon |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Ali Fuad Bey (m. 1910–1938) |
| Issue |
|
| Dynasty | Ottoman |
| Father | Abdul Hamid II |
| Mother | Sazkar Hanım |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Early life
Refia Sultan was born on 15 June 1891 in the Yıldız Palace. Her father was Abdul Hamid II, son of Abdulmejid I and Tirimüjgan Kadın. Her mother was Sazkar Hanım,[1][2][3][4] daughter of Recep Bata Maan and Rukiye Havva Mikanba. She was the only child of her mother and her father's youngest daughter to reach adulthood. In her childhood, she learned how to play the piano from Lombardi Bey, a French music teacher who also taught other children of the sultan.[5]
Marriage
Towards the end of Abdul Hamid's reign, he bethrothed Refia Sultan to Ali Fuad Bey, the son of Müşir Ahmed Eyüp Pasha. However, at the overthrew of her father in 1909, the princess followed her parents into exile at Thessaloniki. The next year she returned to Istanbul.[3]
The marriage took place on 3 June 1910 on Dolmabahçe Palace, the same day of wedding of her half-sister Hamide Ayşe Sultan. The couple had two daughters, Rabia Hanımsultan born on 13 July 1911, and Ayşe Hamide Hanımsultan born in 1918.[6]
At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, the couple and their daughters settled firstly in Nice, France where Hamide died at the age of eighteen because an incident in 1936, later the couple settled in Beirut, Lebanon.[3][4]
According to Neslişah Sultan, she was by far the worldliest among the daughters of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. She was a gracious lady, and her husband Fuad Bey was an excellent husband.[7]
Death
Refia Sultan died at the age of forty seven in 1938 in Beirut, Lebanon and was buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria.[6][1][3][2] Her mother outlived her by seven years dying in 1945.[8]
Honours
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| By Ali Fuad Bey (married 3 September 1910; 1887 – 1953)[10] | |||
| Rabia Hanımsultan | 13 July 1911 | 19 June 1998 | Born in Kiziltoprak Palace, Istanbul; Died unmarried, and buried in tomb of Mahmud II |
| Ayşe Hamide Hanımsultan | c. 1918 | c. 1936 | Born in Kiziltoprak Palace, Istanbul; Died unmarried in exile in Nice, France, because an incident, and buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria |
Ancestry
| Ancestors of Refia Sultan (daughter of Abdul Hamid II) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
Sources
- 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.
- Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.
- Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara: Ötüken. ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.