Father Halil Bey Parents Halil Sami Bey, Halil Bey Grandparent Murad I | Died 1940, Istanbul, Turkey Ex-spouse Murad V Great-grandparents Nilüfer Hatun, Orhan | |
Similar Murad V, Şevkefza Kadın, Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin, Fehime Sultan, Halil Sami Bey | ||
Gevherriz Kalfa (Ottoman Turkish: کوھریز قالفہ; c. 1863 - c. 1940) was an apprentice in the harem of Sultan Murad V of the Ottoman Empire.
Life
Gevherriz kalfa was born in about 1862, or 1863 in Sochi, Abkhazia. She was the daughter of Halil Bey, an Ubykh.
Gevherriz held the title of gözde ("Chosen one", the lowest rank for a concubine) to Murad starting before Murad became sultan. She was a resident of Çırağan Palace and spoke excellent French. She also taught French to young şehzades and sultans (Ottoman imperial princes and princesses) and held the title of Kalfa (treasurer).
In her memoir, fellow member of the royal household, Filizten Kalfa, reports that Gevherriz worked with Nakşifend Kalfa, the hazinedar Dilberengiz, the eunuch Hüseyin Ağa, and Hüsnü Bey (who had been Second Secretary of Murad) to allow for a British doctor to meet with Murad to ascertain Murad's mental fitness. When the doctor arrived, Gevherriz served as translator. It is not clear how true this story is, and it is possible the doctor was sent by freemasons rather than by the British.
After the death of Murad V in 1904, Gevherriz married Hüsnü Bey, Berberbaşı to Sultan Abdul Hamid II. She died in around 1940 in Istanbul.