Abdulmejid II

Abdulmejid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجید الثانی‎, Abd al-Madjeed al-Thâni – Turkish: Halife Abdülmecid Efendi, 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of Ottoman Dynasty, nominally the 37th Head of the Ottoman Imperial House from 1922 to 1924.

On 30 May 1868, he was born at Dolmabahçe Palace or at Beşiktaş Palace, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, to then Sultan Abdülaziz and his wife Hayranidil Kadın. He was educated privately.

In accordance with custom, Abdulmejid was confined to the palace until he was 40. On 4 July 1918, his first cousin Mehmed VI became Sultan and Abdulmejid was named Crown Prince. When his cousin was deposed on 1 November 1922, the Sultanate was abolished. But on 19 November 1922, the Crown Prince was elected Caliph by the Turkish National Assembly at Ankara. He established himself in Constantinople on 24 November 1922.

On 3 March 1924, six months after the foundation of the Turkish Republic, the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished and the Ottoman dynasty was deposed and expelled from Turkey.

Artist

Abdulmejid was given the title of General in the Ottoman Army, but did not have strong military inclinations. He had a more significant role as Chairman of the Ottoman Artists' Society.

He is considered as one of the most important painters of late period Ottoman art. His paintings of the Harem, showing a modern musical gathering, and of his wife, Şehsuvar Hanım, reading Goethe's novel Faust, express the influence of western Europe in his elite circle. These were displayed at a 1918 exhibition of Ottoman paintings in Vienna. His personal self-portrait can be seen at Istanbul Modern.

Abdulmejid was also an avid collector of butterflies, an activity that he pursued during the last 20 years of his life. His favourite magazine was Revue des deux Mondes.

Death

On 23 August 1944, Abdulmejid II died at his house in the Boulevard Suchet, Paris. His death coincided with the Liberation of Paris from the German occupation. He was buried in Medina, Saudi Arabia, by the order of King Saud of Saudi Arabia.

Consorts

Abdulmejid had four consorts:

• Mihrimah Hanım (died at Nakkaştepe Palace, 23 May 1899, buried in Nuhkuyusu Mosque, Istanbul);
• Şehsuvar Hanım (m. Ortaköy Palace, 23 December 1896; Istanbul, 2 May 1881 – Paris, 1945, buried there at Bobigny cemetery);
• Hayrünissa Hanım (m. Ortaköy Palace, 18 June 1902; Bandırma, c. 1877 – Nice, 3 September 1936);
• Mehisti Hanım (m. Çamlıca Palace, 16 April 1912, Adapazarı, c. 1896 – London, Middlesex, 1964, buried in Brookwood cemetery), daughter of Akalsba Hacımaf Bey, and Safiye Hanım;

Son

• Şehzade Ömer Faruk (Constantinople, Ortaköy, Ortaköy Palace, 27/29 February 1898 – 28 March 1969/1971) - with Şehsuvar, married firstly at Yıldız Palace on 29 April 1920 to his second cousin Sabiha Sultan (Constantinople, Ortaköy, Ortaköy Palace, 19 March/1 April 1894 – Istanbul, 26 August 1971), and had three daughters, and married secondly in İskenderiye on 31 July 1948 to his cousin Mihrişah Sultan (Constantinople, Beşiktaş, Beşiktaş Palace, 1 June 1916 – Istanbul, 25 January 1987), without issue:
  • Fatma Neslişah Osmanoğlu Sultan (Constantinople, Nişantaşı, Nişantaşı Palace, 4 February 1921 – 1 April 2012), married in Heliopolis Palace, Cairo, on 26 September 1940 to her cousin Damat Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim (Alexandria, Montaza Palace, 20 February 1899 – Istanbul, 1/2 December 1979, buried in Cairo), heir apparent to the throne of Egypt from 1899 to 1914, created HH in 1922, created HRH in 1952, Regent of Egypt from 1952 to 1953, and had issue
  • Zehra Hanzade Sultan (Constantinople, Dolmabahçe Palace, 12 September 1923 – Paris, 19 March 1998, buried on 26 March 1998), married in Cairo in September 1940 to Damat Prince Muhammad Ali Ibrahim (Cairo, 29 April 1900 – Paris, 2 July 1977), and had issue:
    • Nabila Sabiha Fazila Ibrahim Hanımsultan (b. Neuilly-sur-Seine, 8 August 1941), was the fiance of King Faisal II of Iraq until 1958 when the king was killed. Few years later she married Kheri Oglu, together they had two sons Ali and Saleem
    • Nabil Sultanzade Ahmad Rifat Ibrahim (b. 31 August 1942), married on 26 June 1969 to Emine Ushakidil, without issue
  • Necla Heybetullah Sultan (Nice, 15 May 1926 – 16 October 2006), married in Cairo in February 1943 to Nabil Amr Ibrahim (Cairo, 18 April 1903 – 1977), and had issue:
    • Nabil Sultanzade Osman Rifat Ibrahim (b. 20 May 1951), unmarried and without issue

Daughter

• Hatice Hayriye Ayşe Dürrüşehvar Sultan (Constantinople, Üsküdar, Çamlıca Palace, 26 January 1914 – 7 February 2006) - with Mehisti, married in Nice on 12 November 1931 to Damat Walashan Nawab Sir Mir Himayat Ali Khan Azam Jah Bahadur (22 February 1907 – 9 October 1970), Prince of Berar, son of the last Nizam of Hyderabad India, and had issue.