Cevherriz Hanımefendi

Cevherriz Hanımefendi (c. 1863 - 1940) was the sixth wife of Murad V, deposed Ottoman Sultan.

Biography

Born in 1863 in Sochi, Gevherriz was of Circassian origin. Her father was an Ubykh notable, Halil Bey. During the 1864-67 ethnic cleansing of Circassians, her family emigrated from Caucasus to Istanbul, where Cevherriz was delivered at the court of the Ottoman Sultan. She was given a thoroughly Turkish and Muslim education in the harem department of Çırağan Palace. After receiving her education in the palace, Cevherriz along with other girls of the harem were sent to Notre Dame de Sion, where they were taught French. Cevherriz spoke excellent French and also went into court service. She also taught French to young şehzades and sultans (Ottoman imperial princes and princesses).

Cevherriz grew into a young lady in the Çırağan Palace and when she entered her sixteenth year she was noticed by Murad. Murad proposed her, although, he was twenty three years older than Cevherriz. She consented to the will of their parents in the marriage proposal of the Deposed Sultan, and the couple married in 1879. She spent twenty eight years confined in the Çırağan Palace along with her husband, Murad V, and the other members Murad's entourage.

After Murad's death in 1904 she moved to Bursa, where she was living in the palace of her stepdaughter Fatma Sultan. However, Cevherriz fall into poverty and wrote a petition to the Grand Vizier for help. She was advised to marry again. She returned to Istanbul and was told to choose herself a husband from the great men at the Porte. She chose Hüsnü Bey, Berberbaşı to the former Sultan Abdul Hamid II and married him in 1914. She died in 1940 in Istanbul.

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