LOCAL > Most senior heir to Ottomans loses life
Fatma Neslişah Osmanoğlu was the most senior member of the dynasty.
Vercihan Ziflioğlu vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The granddaughter of the last Ottoman sultan, the most senior member of the dynasty, passed away in Istanbul yesterday morning at the age of 91.“I was deeply saddened by the passing of Neslişah Osmanoğlu, the eldest member of the Ottoman dynasty that made its mark on Turkish and world history, as well as on the period it represents, and which established the Ottoman state and transformed it into a world empire,” President Abdullah Gül said in a public statement.Fatma Neslişah Osmanoğlu was the last member of the Ottoman ruling family born while the empire was still in existence. She became the most senior member of the dynasty after her relative Ertuğrul Osman Osmanoğlu died in 2009.Her funeral was held at Yıldız Mosque in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district today and she was later buried at Aşiyan Cemetery.“Even though our family does not receive the esteem that is its due, [I extend my] condolences to the Turkish nation,” Prince Abdülhamit Kayıhan told the Hürriyet Daily News.Neslişah Osmanoğlu was the grandchild of the last sultan, Vahdettin, and personally witnessed his exile. She was also the granddaughter of the last caliph, Abdülmecit and the wife of Prince Muhammed Abdülmümim, a former regent for the king of Egypt.“Neslişah Sultan was born prior to the abolition of the Sultanate; her birth was announced with a cannon fire salute. She was the last Ottoman to be registered in dynastic records and personally witnessed her family’s exile,” Prof. İlber Ortaylı, the manager of the Topkapı Palace Museum, told the Daily News.Prof. Ortaylı said Neslişah Sultan had given her personal documents to Murat Bardakçı, a journalist and researcher, before passing away. Neslişah Sultan’s memoirs were also published by Bardakçı, he said.“Many members of the Ottoman dynasty were [laid to their final resting places] with their memories; their lives went unrecorded. We can comprehend neither Ottoman history nor the Republic too well for this reason,” he said.
Sultan Vahideddin (Mehmed VI) departing from the backdoor of the  in Istanbul in 1922.
Map of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 16th century. 

 Osmanoğlu, who was the last  royal born during the , died at age 91, reportedly from a heart attack, Monday and was buried in Istanbul, Turkey.

Neslişah was both the granddaughter of , who was the last Ottoman Emperor, and , who was the last Ottoman . Neslişah was also the wife of Egyptian , who was the head of Egypt’s regency for a short while before the revolution in which  and  removed the monarchy from power. This was the second monarchy removed by revolution and sent into exile that Neslişah had personally experienced.

When Neslişah was born on February 4, 1921, cannons were fired to spread the news and she was registered in the family records, the last child of the Ottoman line to be registered. She was born just two years before  founded modern Turkey. The  brought the  of the Ottoman dynasty. The Ottomans had ruled for 600 years. At the peak of the Empire, the family's rule stretched across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as to Eastern Europe. As a young girl, Neslişah left Turkey for exile with her relatives after the royal family was banished. 

In 1940, she married the Prince in Egypt. The Prince was head of the regency for under a year between 1952 and 1953. She was briefly under arrest with her husband, when he was accused of conspiring against Nasser, before they were sent into exile.

As an exile in France, she longed to be repatriated to her homeland and the city of Istanbul where she is now buried. She told a biographer, Murat Bardakçı, "My mother had friends who would go to Istanbul. I would ask them to bring me back a bit of soil from Istanbul, but none did." The Turkish government from 1952 allowed female royals to return and she returned there with her husband in 1957. In 2009, she became the senior member of Turkey’s former royal family after the death of a male relative.

Professor İlber Ortaylı, who manages the museum at the , said, "Many members of the Ottoman dynasty were laid to their final resting places with their memories; their lives went unrecorded. We can comprehend neither Ottoman history nor the Republic too well for this reason."

Neslişah was the last surviving member of her family to be born and registered during the Empire period. She is survived by her two children, one son and one daughter, and a grandson.