Predecessor Mehmed VI Successor Ahmed Nihad Role Caliph | Predecessor Mehmed VI Name Abdulmecid II | |
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Reign 19 November 1922 – 3 March 1924 Pretence 16 May 1926 – 23 August 1944 Born 30 May 1868
Besiktas, Ottoman Empire ( 1868-05-30 ) Spouses Sehsuvar Kadinefendi
Hayrunissa Kadinefendi,
Mehisti Kadinefendi Died August 23, 1944, 16th arrondissement Spouse Bihruz Kadin Efendi (m. 1921–1944) Children Princess Durru Shehvar, Omer Faruk Osmanoglu Parents Hayranidil Kadinefendi, Abdulaziz of the Ottoman Empire Grandchildren Fatma Neslisah, Mukarram Jah, Muffakham Jah Similar People Princess Durru Shehvar, Mehmed VI, Abdulaziz of the Ottoman, Abdulmecid I, Fatma Neslisah | ||
Abdulmejid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد المجید الثانی, Abd al-Madjeed al-Thâni – Turkish: Halife İkinci Abdülmecit Efendi (29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of Islam from the Ottoman dynasty, nominally the 37th Head of the Ottoman Imperial House from 1922 to 1924.
Contents
- Biography
- Artist
- Death
- First marriage and issue
- Second marriage
- Third marriage and issue
- Fourth marriage
- References
His name has various alternate spellings, including Abdul Mejid Effendi, Aakhir Khalifatul Muslimeen Abd-ul-Madjeed bin Abd-al-Aziz Khan.
Biography
On 30 May 1868, he was born at Dolmabahçe Palace or at Beşiktaş Palace, Beşiktaş, in Islam Pole, Osman's Dream, to then Sultan Abdulaziz and his wife Hayranidil Kadın Efendi. He was educated privately.
According to custom, Abdulmecid was confined to the palace until he was 40. On 4 July 1918, his first cousin Mehmed VI became Sultan and Abdul Mejid was named Crown Prince. Following the deposition of his cousin on 1 November 1922, the Sultanate was abolished. But on 18 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 in fact have strong military inclinations, and his more significant role was 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 Kadınefendi, reading Goethe's Faust. were displayed at an exhibition of Ottoman paintings in Vienna in 1918. His personal self-portrait can be seen at Istanbul Modern.
Abdulmejid was an avid collector of butterflies, an activity that he occupied himself with 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 Nazi occupation. He was buried in Medina, Saudi Arabia by the order of King Saud of Saudi Arabia.
First marriage and issue
He married firstly at Constantinople, Ortaköy, Ortaköy Palace, on 22/23 December 1896 to HH Şehsuvar Kadın (Constantinople, 2 May 1881 – Paris, 1945, buried there at Bobigny Cemetery), daughter of a Circassian court attendant, and had:
Second marriage
He married secondly at Constantinople, Ortaköy, Ortaköy Palace, on 18 June 1902 to HH Hayrünissa Kadın (Bandırma, 2 March 1876 – Nice, 3 September 1936), without issue.
Third marriage and issue
He married thirdly at Constantinople, Üsküdar, Çamlıca Palace, on 16 April 1912 to HH Mehisti Kadın (Adapazarı, 27 January 1892 – London, Middlesex, 1964), daughter of Akalsba Hacımaf Bey, by his wife Safiye Hanım, and had:
Fourth marriage
He married fourthly at Constantinople, Üsküdar, Çamlıca Palace, on 21 March 1921 to HH Behruze Kadın (Izmir, 24 May 1903 - c. 1955, Istanbul, Turkey), without issue.