Gevherriz Kalfa

Gevherriz Kalfa
Born c. 1862
Caucasus
Died c. 1940 (aged 78–79)
Istanbul, Turkey
Spouse(s) Hüsnü Bey
Father Halil Bey

Gevherriz Kalfa (Ottoman Turkish: کوھریز قالفہ‎; c. 1863 – c. 1940) was a lady-in-waiting to Sultan Murad V of the Ottoman Empire.

Life

Gevherriz kalfa was born in about 1862,[1] or 1863 in Sochi, Abkhazia. She was the daughter of Halil Bey, an Ubykh.[2]

Gevherriz held the title of gözde ("Chosen one", the lowest rank for a concubine) to Murad starting before Murad became sultan. She was a resident of Çırağan Palace and spoke excellent French. She also taught French to young şehzades and sultans (Ottoman imperial princes and princesses)[3] and held the title of Kalfa (treasurer).[4]

In her memoir, fellow member of the royal household, Filizten Kalfa, reports that Gevherriz worked with Nakşifend Kalfa, the hazinedar Dilberengiz, the eunuch Hüseyin Ağa, and Hüsnü Bey (who had been Second Secretary of Murad) to allow for a British doctor to meet with Murad to ascertain Murad's mental fitness. When the doctor arrived, Gevherriz served as translator. It is not clear how true this story is, and it is possible the doctor was sent by freemasons rather than by the British.[5][6]

After the death of Murad V in 1904, Gevherriz married Hüsnü Bey, Berberbaşı to Sultan Abdul Hamid II. She died in around 1940 in Istanbul.[7][1]

References

  1. 1 2 Brookes 2010, p. 282.
  2. ↑ Açba 2007, p. 108.
  3. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 64.
  4. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 106.
  5. ↑ Brookes 2010, p. 68-72.
  6. ↑ Şehsuvaroğlu, Haluk Yusuf, Çırağanın meşhur kadın simaları, Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya No: 120-Saraylar. Not: Gazetenin "Tarihten Sayfalar" köşesinde yayımlanmıştır.
  7. ↑ Açba 2007, p. 109.

Sources

  • Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010). The concubine, the princess, and the teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem, based on Filizten's memoir, Twenty-Eight Years in Çırağan Palace: The Life of Murad V. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292718425.
  • Harun Açba (2007). Kadın Efendiler: 1839–1924. Profil. ISBN 978-9-759-96109-1.
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