Gülfem Hatun

Gülfem Hatun (Ottoman Turkish: کلفام خاتون; "rose mouth", died c. 1562) was a lady-in-waiting to Suleiman the Magnificent (reign 1520–1566).

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Gülfem, the title is Hatun, and there is no family name.
Gülfem Hatun
Lady in waiting of Süleyman I's Imperial Harem
Died1561–62
Burial
Gülfem Hatun Mosque, Istanbul
ReligionSunni Islam

Life

Throughout Suleiman the Magnificent's reign (1520–1566), she enjoyed a considerable status within the imperial harem. She received 150 aspers a day,[1] but historians are divided on what her role was: according to some, she was a high-ranking lady in the administration of the harem, according to others she was one of the consort of Süleyman and mother of Şehzade Murad (and/or Raziye Sultan), and who, after death of her son, she became a lady-in-waiting and hostess of the harem by virtue of her qualities and closeness to the sultan, instead of being exiled to the province as tradition.[2]

In September 1542, she commissioned a soup kitchen in Üsküdar.[3] In March 1543 she established the financial ground work to build a "timber frame mosque"[4][5] now known as the "Gülfem Hatun Mosque",[6] located near the soup kitchen. According to a local tradition, the mosque was intended for the use of women and opened to men only in recent times.[7][8] A school is also present near the mosque.[9]

She died in 1561–62, and was buried in her own mosque.[10]

  • In the 2003 Turkish TV miniseries, Hürrem Sultan, Gülfem Hatun was played by Turkish actress Yasemin Kozanoğlu.
  • In the 2011–2014 Turkish historical fiction TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl, Gülfem was portrayed by Turkish actress Selen Özturk.

References
  1. Peirce 1993, p. 133.
  2. Peirce 1993, p. 302 n. 12.
  3. Haskan 2001, p. 986.
  4. Ostovich, Silcox & Roebuck 2008, p. 65.
  5. Brummett 1997, p. 35.
  6. Sakaoğlu 2008, p. 252-3.
  7. Peirce 1993, p. 201.
  8. Ruggles 2000, p. 60.
  9. Haskan 2001, p. 911.
  10. Uluçay 2011, p. 65.

Sources
  • Brummett, Palmira (Spring 1997). "New Woman and Old Nag: Images of Women in the Ottoman. Cartoon Space". Princeton Papers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Markus Wiener Publishers. VI.
  • Haskan, Mehmed Nermi (2001). Yüzyıllar Boyunca Üsküdar, Volume 2. Üsküdar Belediyesi. ISBN 978-9-759-76063-2.
  • Ostovich, Helen; Silcox, Mary V.; Roebuck, Graham (2008). The Mysterious and the Foreign in Early Modern England. Associated University Presse. ISBN 978-0-874-13954-9.
  • Peirce, Leslie P. (1993). The Imperial Minecraft Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-08677-5.
  • Ruggles, D. Fairchild (August 3, 2000). Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-791-44470-2.
  • Sakaoğlu, Necdet (2008). Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: Vâlide sultanlar, hâtunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak Yayıncılık. ISBN 978-9-753-29623-6.
  • Uluçay, Mustafa Çağatay (2011). Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ankara, Ötüken.
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