Dynastie

[Autograph letter signed 'Mehmed Serif'].

Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Original autograph letter. 2 p. No letterhead on paper. In Ottoman script. Sent to Hayri Bey Efendi. Dated February, 25, 1945. A fine script. Sent from abroad to Turkey before one year of his return. Damat Mehmet Serif was a Turkish statesman, Ottoman Minister of Interior, author, translator and the groom of Sultan Abdulaziz. He graduated Mulkiye School and worked in various government services. In 1901, he married Emine Sultan who was the daughter of Sultan Abdülaziz. Therefore he was groom (Damat) of Ottoman Court in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. He was translator of 'Voyages of Ibn-i Battuta' into Turkish from Arabic language and 'The Prince' by Machiavelli. from French. (Source: Türk meshurlari -1946-, Ibrahim Alaettin Gövsa). He's known with his a negative attitude towards the Turkish War of Independence. After that, he became one of the people disrupting the national unity in the Speech by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. When the War of Independence was successful, he was fled and banished. He returned from exile to Turkey in 1946.