Refia Sultan (daughter of Abdul Hamid II)

Refia Sultan
Refia Sultan
Born	15 June 1891; Yıldız Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire; (now Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	c. 1938 (aged 46–47); Beirut, Lebanon
Burial	Cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria
Spouse	Damat Ali Fuad Bey (m. 1910⁠–⁠1938)
Issue	Rabia Hanımsultan; Ayşe Hamide Hanımsultan;
Dynasty	Ottoman
Father	Abdul Hamid II
Mother	Sazkar Hanım
Religion	Sunni Islam

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.

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 Bey Maan and Rukiye Havva Hanım 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. He became a Damat. 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 of 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 Damat 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 was buried in the tomb of Mahmud II
Ayşe Hamide Hanımsultan	c. 1918	c. 1936	Born in Kiziltoprak Palace, Istanbul; Died unmarried in exile in Nice, France, because of an incident, and was buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria

Ancestry

Ancestors of Refia Sultan (daughter of Abdul Hamid II)

8. Mahmud II

10. Bekhan Bey

11. Almaş Hanım

1. Refia Sultan

12. Osman Bey Maan

6. Recep Bata Bey Maan

3. Sazkar Hanım

7. Rukiye Havva Hanım Mikanba

References

^ ^a ^b Uluçay 2011, p. 258.
^ ^a ^b Brookes 2010, p. 288.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 697.
^ ^a ^b Ekinci, Ekrem Buğra (June 2017). Sultan Abdülhamid'in Son Zevcesi. ISBN 9786050825039. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
^ Uluçay 2011, p. 250, 258.
^ ^a ^b Adra, Jamil (2005). Genealogy of the Imperial Ottoman Family 2005. pp. 28.
^ Bardakçı, Murat (2017). Neslishah: The Last Ottoman Princess. Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-9-774-16837-6.
^ Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 683-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Yılmaz Öztuna (1978). Başlangıcından zamanımıza kadar büyük Türkiye tarihi: Türkiye'nin siyasî, medenî, kültür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi. Ötüken Yayınevi. p. 165.
^ Ekinci, Ekrem Buğra (March 31, 2017). Sultan Abdülhamid'in Son Zevcesi. Timaş Tarih. p. 185. ISBN 978-6-050-82503-9.

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.

[FOOTNOTEUluçay2011258-1] Uluçay 2011, p. 258.

[FOOTNOTEBrookes2010288-2] Brookes 2010, p. 288.

[FOOTNOTESakaoğlu2008697-3] Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 697.

[Refia-4] Ekinci, Ekrem Buğra (June 2017). Sultan Abdülhamid'in Son Zevcesi. ISBN 9786050825039. Retrieved 24 July 2020.

[FOOTNOTEUluçay2011250,_258-5] Uluçay 2011, p. 250, 258.

[abc-6] Adra, Jamil (2005). Genealogy of the Imperial Ottoman Family 2005. pp. 28.

[7] Bardakçı, Murat (2017). Neslishah: The Last Ottoman Princess. Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-9-774-16837-6.

[FOOTNOTESakaoğlu2008683-4-8] Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 683-4.

[Öztuna1978-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Yılmaz Öztuna (1978). Başlangıcından zamanımıza kadar büyük Türkiye tarihi: Türkiye'nin siyasî, medenî, kültür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi. Ötüken Yayınevi. p. 165.

[10] Ekinci, Ekrem Buğra (March 31, 2017). Sultan Abdülhamid'in Son Zevcesi. Timaş Tarih. p. 185. ISBN 978-6-050-82503-9.

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