Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi ( ota, ارطغرل عثمان), also known as Osman Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu with a surname as required by the Turkish Republic (18 August 1912 – 23 September 2009), was a

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman from 1994 until his death. Until the abolition of the monarchy on 1 November 1922, Osman was addressed as

His Imperial Highness His/Her Imperial Highness (abbreviation HIH) is a style used by members of an imperial family to denote ''imperial'' – as opposed to ''royal'' – status to show that the holder in question is descended from an emperor rather than a king ( ...

Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi Hazretleri, Imperial Prince of the

. He is known in Turkey as "the Last Ottoman".

Biography

Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman was born on 18 August 1912 in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, in Nişantaşı Palace. He was the second, and youngest son of

Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin ''Şehzade'' ( fa, شهزاده) is the Ottoman form of the Persian title '' Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to " prince of the blood imperial" in English. Origi ...

( Yıldız Palace, 19 December 1885 –

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United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, 15 June 1949, and buried in Damascus). His father served as a Captain of the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

. Ertuğrul Osman's mother was Burhaneddin's second consort, Aliye Melek Nazlıyar Hanım ( Adapazarı, 13 October 1892 – Ankara, 31 August 1976), daughter of Huseyin Bey. They married at Nişantaşı, Nişantaşı Palace, Pera (today Beyoğlu) on 7 June 1909 and divorced in 1919. Osman's paternal grandparents were Sultan Abdul Hamid II and

Mezidemestan Kadın ota, مزیدمستان قادین , house = Mikanba (by birth) Ottoman (by marriage) , father = Kaymat Bey Mikanba , mother = , birth_name = Kadriye Kamile Merve Mikanba , birth_date = 3 March 1869 , ...

. In 1924, while studying in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, he received news that all members of the Sultan's family were to be exiled. He lived in the

from 1933 and later resided in

. He was educated in mining engineering. He worked as consultant for a Canadian company Wells Overseas which often sent him to South America.The Globe and Mail: September 2009: Turkish Prince was an heir without an empire
/ref> Osman lived modestly in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

after 1945, residing in a two-bedroom apartment above a restaurant. He returned to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

in 1992, having been invited by the country's government. At that time, he observed, "Democracy works well in Turkey."Bilefsky, Dan. "Weary of Modern Fictions, Turks Glory in Splendor of Ottoman Past," ''New York Times.'' 5 December 2009. He became the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman in 1994. Osman was granted a Turkish passport and citizenship in 2004. Osman spoke Turkish, English, German and French fluently and understood

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. He died aged 97 on 23 September 2009. The Turkish Ministry of Culture announced that Ertuğrul had died in his sleep as a result of kidney failure. His wife, who was by his side, when he died, also confirmed the cause of death. The Prince had spent one week in Istanbul's Memorial hospital at the time of his death. Osman's funeral was held at the

Sultan Ahmed Mosque The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, also known by its official name, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque ( tr, Sultan Ahmet Camii), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers ...

in Istanbul on 26 September. His body was interred next to his grandfather Sultan Abdul Hamid II in Istanbul's Çemberlitaş neighborhood. His coffin was draped with the Imperial Ottoman Standard and his funeral was attended by Turkish Government Ministers. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and the President of the Republic of Turkey both sent condolences to the Imperial family. The Prime Minister also later visited Osman's widow at a former Imperial Palace to express his condolences.

Marriages

He was married twice, first in

, New York, on 20 January 1947 to Gulda Twerskoy (

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, 20 March 1915 – New York City, 16 September 1985), without issue. His second wife, whom he married on a football pitch, on 27 September 1991, also without issue, Zeynep Tarzi (born

, 16 December 1940), is the daughter of Abdulfettah Tarzi, nephew-in-law of the former King of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan ( Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1 ...

, and of Pakize Tarzi, a pioneering Turkish gynaecologist from a deep-rooted Ottoman family. He was married to Zeynep until his death at 97 years of age.

Ancestry

References

External links

Ottoman Club

– Daily Telegraph obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Osman, Ertugrul, V 1912 births 2009 deaths Sciences Po alumni Royalty from Istanbul People from Manhattan Turkish expatriates in the United States Deaths from kidney failure Heads of the Osmanoğlu family