Leyla Gülefşan Achba (10 August 1898 – 6 November 1931) was an Abkhazian princess. She was a lady-in-waiting to Nazikeda Kadın, wife of

Mehmed VI Mehmed VI Vahideddin ( ''Meḥmed-i sâdis'' or ''Vaḥîdü'd-Dîn''; or /; 14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926), also known as ''Şahbaba'' () among the Osmanoğlu family, was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the penultimate Ottoman Cal ...

, the last Sultan of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. She is known for writing memoirs, which give details of the sultan's court life and was the first Ottoman court lady to write memoirs.

Life

Leyla Achba was born on 10 August 1898 in Achba Mansion, Horhor, Istanbul. She was a member of the Abkhazian princely family, Anchabadze, which had emigrated to Istanbul during the

Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

. Her father was Prince Mehmed Refik Bey Achba, and her mother was Princess Mahşeref Hanım Emkhaa, daughter of Prince Osman Bey Emukhvari and Princess Hesna Hanım Çaabalurhva. She had three elder siblings, two brothers, Ahmed Bey, and Rifat Kemaleddin Bey, and a sister, Emine Nurbanu Hanım, and a younger sister, Feride Hanım. She was a paternal great-grandniece of Verdicenan Kadın, a wife of Sultan

Abdulmejid I ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...

. She was also a maternal niece of Peyveste Hanım, and a paternal cousin of Fatma Pesend Hanım, both wives of Sultan

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 ...

. Her paternal grandmother Ayşe Kemalifer Dziapş-Ipa was the sister of Dürrünev Kadın who was the Senior Consort of Sultan

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861. Ab ...

. Her sister, Nurbanu renamed Hidayet Hanım married Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin, son of Sultan Abdülhamid II. Her cousins Nazikeda Kadın was the wife of Sultan

and Iryale Hanım was a consort of Şehzade Mehmed Selim, son of Sultan Abdülhamid II. Her cousin Princess Mihri Müşfik Hanım was the first female artist in Turkey. Leyla was educated privately. She could speak French and English fluently, and had a penchant for music. In 1916, she was engaged to Prince Hüseyin Inalipa. The marriage was supposed to take place two years later on 23 July 1918. However, the marriage didn't take place because of Hüseyin's death twenty days earlier. In 1919 she entered court service, alongside some of her relatives. Here, her name according to the custom of the Ottoman court was changed to Gülefşan. She then became fifth

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

to Nazikeda Kadın. She served Nazikeda until she, and the rest of Sultan's family were sent to exile in 1924.

Death

After the Turkish republic was founded, she moved to her aunt in

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

, where she died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

on 6 November 1931. She was buried in Yukarı Tekke.

Memoirs

Shortly before her death she wrote memoirs, which give details of the sultan's court life. Princess Achba was the first Ottoman court lady who wrote memoirs. She intended her memoirs to be reckoning, an account which would bring to light the harsh treatment her family received from the victorious republic.

Ancestry

Bibliography

References

Sources

* * Rumeysa Aredba: ''Sultan Vahdeddinin San Remo Günleri'', İstanbul 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Achba, Leyla 1898 births 1931 deaths 20th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century women writers from the Ottoman Empire People from the Ottoman Empire of Abkhazian descent 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Women memoirists Ladies-in-waiting from the Ottoman Empire Tuberculosis deaths in Turkey 20th-century memoirists