Very Good English Original color photograph, hand-colored. 4to. (26 x 20 cm). A portrait. Signed and inscribed as 'To my dear uncle and mother, Fatma Sultana, New York, August 1940'. Sabia Sultan was born on 2 April 1894 in her father's palace in Ortaköy. Her mother was Nazikeda Kadin, daughter of Hasan Marshan and Fatma Horecan Aredba. She was the third daughter born to her father and mother. She had two sisters, Fenire Sultan, six years elder than her, and Ulviye Sultan, one year elder than her. When her father asecended the throne in 1918, Sabiha was still unmarried, but had several admirers. Those who knew her always said that she was not like the other women of the Ottoman family. "Sabiha Sultan was different", said the Turkish poet Yahya Kemal. Her first suiter is thought to be Rauf Orbay. He was followed by Mahmud Kemal Pasha. Another was Fuad Bey of the Babanzade clan. Captain Safvet Arikan, Lieutinant Suphi Bey from Damascus were other suitors, but none of them were accepted. Her betrothal to Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last ruling member of the Qajar dynasty and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was forfeited in favor of her second cousin Sehzade Ömer Faruk thus missing her chance of becoming the first "First Lady" of the nascent Turkish Republic. Sabiha and Sehzade Ömer Faruk, the son of Abdulmejid II, the last Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate and Sehsuvar Hanim, were in love with each other. When Abdulmejid asked Sabiha's hand in marriage for his son, Mehmed flatly refused as there was no such thing as a marriage between cousins. Sehsuvar Hanim, the prince's mother called on Nazikeda, and succeeded in convincing her. The marriage took place on 5 December 1919, in the pavilion of the sacred relics, Topkapi Palace. The marriage was performed by Seyhülislam Hayrizade Ibrahim Efendi. Sabiha Sultan's deputy was Baskatip Ali Fuad Bey, and Ömer Faruk's deputy was Ömer Yaver Pasha. The wedding reception took place four months later on 29 April 1920 at the Yildiz Palace. The couple were given the Nisantasi Palace as their residence. Fatma Neslisah Osmanoglu was a granddaughter of the last Ottoman Caliph Abdulmejid II and his first wife, Sehsuvar Hanim and granddaughter of the last Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI and his first wife, Nazikeda Kadin. She was the daughter of Sehzade Ömer Faruk (1898-1969/1971) and his first wife and cousin Sabiha Sultan (1894-1971). Extremely rare.
