Abdulmejid II

On 30 May 1868,[1][2] he was born at Dolmabahçe Palace, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, to then Sultan Abdulaziz and his wife Hayranidil Kadın. He was younger full brother of Nazime Sultan. He was educated privately.

In accordance with late Ottoman 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.[1] When his cousin was deposed on 1 November 1922, the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished. But on 19 November 1922, the Crown Prince was elected Caliph by the Turkish National Assembly at Ankara.[1] He established himself in Istanbul[4][5] 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.[6][7]

Abdulmejid's painting of his wife.

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.[8] 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.[8]

Portrait of Abdulmejid II

Portrait of Abdulmejid II in Topkapı Palace Museum

Abdulmejid and his daughter Dürrüşehvar

Princess Dürrüşehvar Sultan, Princess of Berar; Caliph Abdulmejid II of the Ottoman Empire, and Nawab Azam Jah, Prince of Berar

Abdülmecid's first wife was Şehsuvar Hanım, a Turkish.[3] They married on 23 December 1896. She was the mother of Şehzade Ömer Faruk,[9] born in 1898.[10] She died in Paris in 1945,[9] and was buried in Bobigny cemetery. His second wife was Mihrimah Hanım. She died at the Nakkaştepe Palace, on 23 May 1899, and was buried in Nuhkuyusu Mosque, Istanbul.[11][12]

His third wife[3] was Hayrünissa Hanım,[13] a Circassian.[3] She was childless.[13][14] His fourth wife was Mehisti Hanım. She was an Abkhazian. Her father was Akalsba Hacımaf Bey, and her mother was Safiye Hanım. They married on 16 April 1912.[11] She was the mother of Dürrüşehvar Sultan, born in 1914.[15] She died in Middlesex, London in 1964, and was buried in Brookwood cemetery.[16]

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 on the recommendation of King Saud of Saudi Arabia.

Ottoman honours

• Order of House of Osman, Jeweled[17][18]
• Order of Glory, Jeweled[17][18]
• Imtiyaz Medal, Jeweled[17][18]
• Order of Osmanieh, Jeweled[17][18]
• Order of the Medjidie, Jeweled[17][18]
• Iftikhar Sanayi Medal[17][18]
• Imtiyaz War Medal in Gold[18]
• Outstanding Navy Medal in Gold[18]

Foreign honours

•  Austria-Hungary: Grand-Cross Order of Leopold, 6 June 1918[19]
•  Persia: Order of the Crown, 2nd Class, 23 August 1919[20]

• Uçan, Lâle (2019). Son Halife Abdülmecid Efendi'nin Hayatı - Şehzâlik, Veliahtlık ve Halifelik Yılları (PDF) (PhD Thesis). Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences.

• Line of succession to the former Ottoman throne

• Newspaper clippings about Abdulmejid II in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW