Ertuğrul Osman

Ertuğrul Osman, His Imperial Highness Prince of the Ottoman Empire
Head of the House of Osman
Term	12 March 1994 - 23 September 2009 (&1000000000000001500000015 years, &10000000000000195000000195 days)
Predecessor	Mehmed Orhan
Successor	Bayezid Osman
Spouse	Gulda Twerskoy Zeynep Tarzi
House	Imperial House of Osman
Father	Prince Mehmed Burhaneddin
Mother	Aliye Melek Nazlıyar Hanım Efendi
Born	18 August 1912(1912-08-18) Yıldız Palace, Constantinople,[1][2] Ottoman Empire
Died	23 September 2009(2009-09-23) (aged 97) Istanbul, Turkey
Religion	Islam

Ertuğrul Osman (Ottoman Turkish: ارطغرل عثمان), also known as Osman Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu with a surname as required by the Turkish Republic (18 August 1912 – 23 September 2009), was an Imperial Prince of the Ottoman Empire and the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman from 1994 until his death. Had the Ottoman Empire not been dissolved and succeeded by the Republic of Turkey, he would have become His Imperial Majesty The Emperor Osman V, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of Islam. He was also known as Sultan Ertugrul II in reference to Ertuğrul, the father of Osman I.

Osman was fourth in line to the throne when the monarchy was abolished in 1923, and the modern Republic of Turkey replaced the Imperial Dynasty.^[3] Up to that time he was addressed as His Imperial Highness Shahzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi Hazretleri, Imperial Prince of the Ottoman Empire.^[4] He was regarded by Turks as the "last Ottoman".^[3]

Life

Osman was the youngest son of Prince Mehmed Burhaneddin (Constantinople,^[1][2] Yıldız Palace, 19 December 1885 - New York City, United States, 15 June 1949 and buried in Damascus). His father served as Captain of the Ottoman Army. From 1914 to 1919 his father was crown prince and titular king of Albania by his marriage to his first wife, Aliye Melek Nazlıyar (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 his fourth wife.

In 1924, while studying in Vienna, Austria, he received news that all members of the Sultan's family were to be exiled.^[3] He lived in the United States from 1933, and later resided in New York City. He became the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman in 1994. Osman lived modestly in New York after 1945, residing in a two-bedroom apartment above a restaurant.^[3][5] He returned to Turkey in 1992, having been invited by the country's government.^[3] At that time, he observed, "Democracy works well in Turkey."^[6]

Osman was granted a Turkish passport and citizenship in 2004.

Osman spoke Turkish, English, German and French fluently and understood Italian and Spanish. He died aged 97 on 23 September 2009.^[3][5][7] The Turkish Ministry of Culture announced that the Prince had died in his sleep as a result of renal failure.^[7] His wife, who was by his side, when he died, also confirmed the cause of death.^[5][8] The Prince had spent one week in Istanbul's Memorial hospital at the time of his death.^[8] Osman's funeral was held at the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul on the 26th of September.^[6] His body was interred next to his grandfather His Imperial Majesty, Grand Sultan Abdülhamit II in Istanbul’s Çemberlitaş neighborhood.^[9] His coffin was draped with the Imperial Ottoman Standard and his funeral was attended by Turkish Government Ministers.^[6] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Marriages

He was married twice, first in New York City, New York, on 20 January 1947 to Gulda Twerskoy (Johannesburg, Gauteng, 20 March 1915 - New York City, 16 September 1985), without issue. His second wife, whom he married in New York City, on 27 September 1991, Zeynep Tarzi (born Istanbul, 16 December 1940), is the daughter of Abdulfettah Tarzi, niece of the former King of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan, 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.

Full Style

Pre-1994 His Imperial Highness The Prince Ertugrul Osman V, Imperial Prince of the Ottoman Empire

Post-1994 His Imperial Highness The Prince Ertugrul Osman V, Imperial Prince of the Ottoman Empire, 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.7, Edited by Hugh Chisholm, (1911), 3; Constantinople, the capital of the Turkish Empire...
2. ^ ^{a b} Britannica, Istanbul:When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "'Last Ottoman' dies in Istanbul". BBC. 2009-09-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8273396.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
4. ^ The style remained available to him thereafter as internaitonal protocol dictates that former Monarchs and members of non-abdicated royal families still retain the use of their style and title for the duration of their lifetime, but both die with them. For example, Greece's deposed king is still technically His Majesty King Constantine II of the Hellenes, as a personal title, not a constitutional office, since the abolition of the monarchy by the Hellenic Republic in 1974.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Bernstein, Fred A. (26 March 2006). "Not Quite a Castle, but It's Home". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/realestate/26habi.html. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} Bilefsky, Dan. "Weary of Modern Fictions, Turks Glory in Splendor of Ottoman Past," New York Times. December 5, 2009.
7. ^ ^{a b} "Head of the former Ottoman dynasty dies". AP. 2009-09-24. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsk4Sh4htROo1cbSc2N1RYHKQtKQD9ATPRJG1. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Obituaries from the Zaman newspaper:
   • Unattributed (2009-09-25). "Osmanoğlu, the eldest Ottoman dynasty member, passes away". Today's Zaman: p. 6. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-187867-101-osmanoglu-the-eldest-ottoman-dynasty-member-passes-away.html. Retrieved 2009-09-24. 
   • Demirci, Mehmet; Özdemir, Yavuz (2009-09-24). "Osmanlı hanedanının en kıdemli üyesi hayatını kaybetti" (in Turkish). Zaman Gazetesi: p. 32. http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=895572. Retrieved 2009-09-25. 
9. ^ Watson, Ivan; Comert, Yesim (2009-09-26). "Turks mourn relative of Ottoman sultan". CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/09/26/turkey.ottoman.funeral/index.html. Retrieved 2009-09-26. 

External links

• Ottoman Club
• Genealogy of Ertuğrul Osman
• Ertugrul Osman - Daily Telegraph obituary

Ertuğrul Osman House of Osman Born: 18 August 1912 Died: 23 September 2009
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Mehmed Orhan	— TITULAR — Sultan of the Ottoman Empire March 12, 1994 – September 23, 2009 Reason for succession failure: Empire abolished in 1922	Succeeded by Bayezid Osman

Persondata
Name	Osman, Ertugrul, V
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 August 1912
Place of birth	Yıldız Palace, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Date of death	23 September 2009
Place of death	Istanbul, Turkey