Şehzade Mehmed Orhan Efendi (; also Mehmed Orhan Osmanoğlu; 12 October 1909 – 12 March 1994) was an Ottoman prince and the 42nd head of the

Ottoman dynasty The Ottoman dynasty () consisted of the members of the imperial House of Osman (), also known as the Ottomans (). According to Ottoman tradition, the family originated from the Kayı tribe branch of the Oghuz Turks, under the leadership of Os ...

from 1983 to 1994. He was the advisor of King

Zog I of Albania Zog I (born Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli; 8 October 18959 April 1961) was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as King ...

and succeeded as head of the Ottoman dynasty on 9 December 1983, following the death of Şehzade Ali Vâsib.

Early life

Orhan Efendi askeri mektepte talebe iken

Şehzade Mehmed Orhan was born on 12 October 1909 in

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

. According to his aunt Ayşe Sultan, he was born in Naime Sultan's Palace. His father was

Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir Efendi (; 16 January 1878 – 16 March 1944) was an Ottoman prince, the son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his consort Bidar Kadın. Early life Şehzade Mehmed Abdülkadir was born on 16 January 1878 in the Yıldız P ...

, son of

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

and Bidar Kadın, and his mother was Mihriban Hanım, and ethnic Abkhazian. After his parents divorced in 1913, he and his mother went to live in with his uncle. He was then enrolled in

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

and

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

Life in exile

At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Mehmed Orhan settled in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He then went to live with his uncle in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and then to his aunt Naime Sultan in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. From here he moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where he lived for two and a half years. Mehmed Orhan worked as

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

and picture seller at an art gallery in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

taxi driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...

, Lebanon, and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Syria, a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

attendant in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

and an

Advisor An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs catego ...

of King

. From 1983, following the death of Ali Vâsib, he served as the head of the imperial house from his home in

. In a 1990 feature in ''Life'' magazine, he said his legacy is "both sacred and laughable," and said, "To be Ottoman is to know how to breathe with time.""Kings in the Wings." ''Life''. March 1990: 45.

Personal life

Mehmed Orhan's first wife was Nafia Hanım. She was the third daughter of Ali Reza

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

of the Yeğen family and wife Nimet Hanım. They married in 1932. She was mother of a daughter, Fatma Necla ''Sultan'', born in 1933. After the two divorced in 1933, she married Prince Abbas Halim of Egypt. Her eldest sister, Berkemal Hanım, was married to

Mehmed Abdulaziz Mehmed or Mehmet is the most common Turkish form of the Arabic male name Muhammad () (''Muhammed'' and ''Muhammet'' are also used, though considerably less) and gains its significance from being the name of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Origina ...

, 40th head of the Ottoman dynasty from 1973 to 1977, and was the mother of the couple's only daughter, Hürrem ''Sultan.'' His second wife was Marguerite Hanım Fournier, a French woman. They married in 1940 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. They were parents of a son, ''Şehzade'' Mehmed Selim, born in 1943. The two divorced in 1945. His third wife was Francesca Hanım Franchetti, who was the daughter of an

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

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

. They married after 1945 and divorced after seven years. The two together had a daughter named Ayten ''Sultan''.

Death

Mehmed Orhan died at the age of eighty-four on 12 March 1994 in Nice, France. He was buried two days later on 14 March in the East Side Cemetery in Nice. In 2010, Nice Municipality removed the bones from his grave and placed them into the

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

number 3 in the same cemetery, citing the fact that the license to use the burial place was not paid for years and the family couldn't be reached.

Issue

Mehmed Orhan had a son and two daughters: * Fatma Necla ''Sultan'' Osmanoğlu (born

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, 14 September 1933 –

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, 2010) – with Nafia Hanim, married Damat ... Germann and had two sons: ** ''Sultanzade'' Mehmed Erol Germann (born 1952); ** ''Sultanzade'' Osman Cem Germann (born 1963); * ''Şehzade'' Mehmed Selim Osmanoğlu (born Paris, 3 October 1943) – with Marguerite Fournier, married and had one daughter: ** Claris ''Sultan'' Osmanoğlu (born 1971) * Ayten ''Sultan'' Osmanoğlu (born 1940s) – with Francesca Franchetti, unmarried and without issue

Ancestry

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orhan, Mehmed 1909 births 1994 deaths Ottoman princes Heads of the Osmanoğlu family Robert College alumni