Rumeysa Aredba

Princess Hatice Rumeysa Hayrıdil Aredba (c. 1873 - c. 1929, also called Hatice Rumeysa Hayrıdil Hanımefendi) was a princess at the Ottoman court. She is known for writing memoirs, which give details of the exile and personality of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI at San Remo.

Biography

Rumeysa Aredba was born in 1873 into the Aredba dynasty as an Aredba princess, the second daughter of Prince Halil Bey Aredba. Before the Ottoman Russian war of 1877-78, she was taken along with her cousins and sisters, Amine and Pakize, cousins, Emine, Daryal, Naciye, Fatma and Kamile to the palace of Cemile Sultan by their families, where they were given for service. In the palace of Cemile Sultan, during her service, she was given private education and was renamed Hayrıdil. Her cousin Emine who was renamed Nazikeda was married to Mehmed VI in 1885 and she became a lady-in-waiting to her. Her elder sister who was also renamed Nazikeda was married to Şehzade Yusuf Izzeddin.

She spent most of her life with the family of Sultan Mehmed VI and also accompanied them into exile in 1924, at San Remo. During the exile she wrote memoirs which give details of the exile and personality of Sultan Mehmed VI, by the name of Sultan Vahdeddinin San Remo Günleri. Sultan Mehmed VI died in 1926 in exile. After Mehmed VI's death, in 1927 she returned to Istanbul, where she died in 1929 in a neighbourhood of Beşiktaş.

References

• Leyla Achba-Anchabadze, Prinzessin: Harem Hatiralari, Istanbul 2004
• Afife Rezzemaza: Saray'dan Sürgüne, İstanbul 2013
• Rumeysa Aredba: Sultan Vahdeddinin San Remo Günleri, İstanbul 2009