Fehime Sultan

Fehime Sultan (فہیمه سلطان, "intelligent"; 2 July 1875 – 15 September 1929) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of Sultan Murad V and his fourth consort Meyliservet Kadın.

Early life
Fehime Sultan was born on 2 July 1875 in the Dolmabahçe Palace. Her father was Murad V, son of Abdulmejid I and Şevkefza Kadın, and her mother was Meyliservet Kadın. She was the fifth child; the second daughter born to her father and the only child of her mother. Her birth was kept secret until her father became sultan, as the Ottoman princes were forbidden to have children at the time.

After Murad's accession the throne on 30 May 1876, after the deposition of his uncle Sultan Abdulaziz, he and his family settled in Dolmabahçe Palace. Murad's reign lasted for three months before he was deposed on 30 August 1876 due to mental instability and subsequently imprisoned in Çırağan Palace. Fehime and her mother accompanied him into confinement.

Life in confinement
At the time of her family's confinement, Fehime Sultan was one year old and grew up without experiencing any other way of life. She received her education in the palace. Like her father, she was interested in the arts and music, learning to play the piano and composing songs. According to Filizten Hanım, who did not favor her, Fehime had a simple, haughty, and proud personality, believing herself to be terribly important. Filizten noted that Fehime was not particularly attractive but fancied herself so and desired others to share this view. She loved receiving praise. Despite being literate in both Turkish and French, she showed little interest in reading books and instead spent much of her time looking in the mirror. Filizten often compared her unfavorably to her older sister Hatice, whom she admired for being beautiful, intelligent, cheerful, and of high quality. Fehime lost her mother around the age of 16 due to a brief illness exacerbated by an accident. At her death, Meyliservet entrusted Fehime to her father's care.

First marriage
As years passed, Fehime's elder sister, Hatice Sultan, began expressing a desire to marry. Her complaints eventually reached their father, Murad V, with the assistance of her mother and the older kalfas. Murad V conveyed her concerns to Abdul Hamid II, who felt obligated to find husbands for both Hatice and Fehime Sultan. However, he imposed one condition: once they left the palace, they would not be allowed to return.

The princesses were asked about their preferences, and both chose to leave Çırağan Palace and get married. Abdul Hamid II arranged for the two princesses to be brought to Yıldız Palace. He ordered the complete renovation of one villa in Ortaköy and the construction of a new villa. Once these were fully furnished, photographs were taken and sent to Murad V. Fehime, who had never left the palace, was frightened when she saw the carriage and horses sent for their transportation.

In October 1898, Fehime and her sister Hatice Sultan met with the German empress Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein during her visit to Istanbul with her husband, German Emperor Wilhelm II. At that time, the sisters were living at Yıldız Palace. To avoid hurting their feelings, Abdul Hamid II included them in the ceremony alongside his own daughters when introducing them to the Empress.

In 1901, Abdul Hamid II arranged the marriages of Fehime Sultan, her sister Hatice Sultan, and Emine Sultan, daughter of Sultan Abdülaziz, to men of similar station and character. Fehime Sultan's husband was granted the rank of "Ali Galib Pasha". The marriage took place on 3 September 1901 in the Yıldız Palace. The couple was given a palace in Ortaköy as their residence. The marriage was unhappy, and Fehime remained childless, despite her husband's efforts to make her happy and his expenditure to fulfill her wishes. Within certain circles, she was nicknamed "Kelebek Sultan" (Butterfly Princess) due to her distinctive art and expensive clothing styles.

Second marriage
In 1909, following the scandal and divorce of her sister Hatice Sultan, Fehime Sultan obtained permission to divorce. Later that year, she met Mahmud Behçet Bey, who was five years younger than her, in an Istanbul garden, and they fell in love. They married in 1910 and remained happily married for 14 years, though they had no children.

Beginning in late 1920, the Ankara government established two intelligence organizations in Istanbul: the Müdafaa-i Milliye Grubu (National Defense Group), also known as the Mim Mim group, which consisted of remnants from the Karakol or Teşkilatı group, effectively suppressed during the second British occupation of the Ottoman capital, and the Felah group, a new and separate organization. The Felah group was tasked with monitoring former Unionists, smuggling arms and people, and gathering information. Fehime and her cousin, Naime Sultan, daughter of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, were active members of the organization. Fehime provided valuable information to the underground network. She harbored resentment towards her uncle, Sultan Mehmed VI, who closely monitored the children of Sultan Murad. Fehime was deeply committed to constitutionalism and patriotism. In 1911, she composed a piano sonata titled "Pour La Constitution".

Following the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Fehime and her husband initially settled in Vienna, Austria, before relocating to Nice, France. In Nice, Mahmud Behçet Bey borrowed money from Fehime under the pretext of opening a shop. He began selling Turkish-style ice cream in front of a grocery store on Rue de Congrés but eventually fled, leaving her in financial hardship. Despite having other family members in Nice, including Abdülmejid II, they declined to assist her, partly due to internal family discord. This discord stemmed from disagreements surrounding the death of Sultan Abdülaziz, with some descendants suspecting foul play orchestrated by the "Mejids" branch of the family. Additionally, some family members disapproved of Fehime's political beliefs, which they attributed to the downfall of the Sultanate and their subsequent exile. Fehime relied on the assistance of a few loyal eunuchs, who provided her with meager resources for sustenance and shelter.

Death
Fehime died of tuberculosis on 15 September 1929, at the age of fifty-four and was buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, Damascus, Syria.

Honours

 * Order of the Medjidie, Jeweled
 * Order of Charity, 1st Class

Legacy
Dresses attributed to her are preserved in the Topkapı Palace.

In popular culture and literature

 * In the 2017 TV series Payitaht: Abdülhamid, Fehime Sultan is portrayed by Turkish actress Elif Özkul.
 * Fehime Sultan is a character in Ayşe Osmanoğlu's historical novel The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus (2020).