Rana Hanımsultan

Rana Hanımsultan was born in Paris, France, in 1926.[1] Her parents were Naciye Sultan, daughter of Şehzade Selim Süleyman and granddaughter of Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I, and Mehmet Kamil Killigil, younger brother of Naciye Sultan's former husband Enver Pasha.[2] They married in 1923, one year after the death of Enver Pasha, and settled in Paris. She had three older maternal half-siblings: Mahpeyker Hanımsultan, Türkan Hanimsultan and Sultanzade Ali Bey.[3]

A special law was passed for her and her half-siblings to return to Turkey on 25 May 1939.[4] They all became a citizen of the Republic of Turkey through a law dated 5 July 1939.[5] Rana's parents divorced in 1949, and her father returned to Turkey and became a Turkish citizen through a law dated 22 September 1949.[5] He died in Istanbul on 7 August 1962.[5]

During World War II Rana Hanımsultan and her older sisters stayed with their mother in Switzerland until 1943.[6] She completed her high secondary education there.[6] In 1946 Rana and her parents returned to Paris.[6] She was educated at Sorbonne University receiving a degree in French language and literature.[1][7]

Rana Hanımsultan worked as a French language teacher. She taught at Lycée Saint-Joseph in Istanbul between 1985 and 1986.[7]

Rana Hanımsultan died in Istanbul in April 2008 shortly after she had fallen down the stairs at her Istanbul home on 13 April and had experienced a cerebral hemorrhage.[4] Funeral prayers for her were performed at Teşvikiye Mosque on 17 April with the attendance of the members of the Ottoman dynasty.[1][4] She was buried next to her mother, Naciye Sultan, her husband, her daughter, Necla, and other relatives in Yahya Efendi Mausoleum in Beşiktaş, Istanbul.[4][8]

Rana Hanımsultan married a Turkish diplomat, Sadi Eldem, on 25 July 1949.[3][8] Her mother, Naciye Sultan, could return to Turkey on 4 August 1952 and stayed at their home in Istanbul for a while.[6] Sadi Eldem died on 15 January 1995.[3] They had three children, two daughters and a son:[8][9]

• Ceyda Eldem (1 March 1952 - August 2014)[2]
• Necla Eldem (24 March 1954 - 24 August 1964). She died in an accident at age ten.[8]
• Edhem Elden (born 2 March 1960) who works as historian and faculty member at Boğaziçi University.[2] On 2 September 1983 he married Zeynep Sedef Torunoglu, and they have a daughter.[8][9]