November 2009
World History SpotlightLast Heir to Ottoman Empire Dies at Age 97
The last surviving heir to the Ottoman throne, Ertugrul Osman, has died at age 97 in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. Osman was a descendant of the first Ottoman sultan, Osman I. Founded in 1299, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by members of the same family for 700 years. It was once one of the world’s greatest powers. At its peak, it included most of southeastern Europe, including present-day Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Greece, and Ukraine, as well as Iraq, Syria, Israel, Egypt, and parts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Ertugrul Osman was born in Istanbul in 1912. As a child, he played in the 285-room Dolmabahce Palace on the shores of the Bosporus Strait, which divides Europe from Asia. He was at school in Vienna in 1924 when he learned that his family had lost power over what remained of the Ottoman Empire to a revolutionary movement headed by Kemal Atatürk. Osman’s family was given a few days to get out of Turkey.
Removal of the sultanate opened the way to drastic changes. Atatürk, founder of the Turkish republic, transformed Turkey from a dictatorship into a modern democracy by reforming its legal system, its educational institutions, and even its writing system.
In 1939, Ertugrul Osman left Europe and moved to New York City, where he lived in a two-bedroom apartment. He returned to Turkey for the first time in 1992, at the invitation of the Turkish government. “Democracy works very well in Turkey,” he said after his visit. He visited Turkey many times after 1992, saying that he wanted to spend as much time there as he could. He was in Istanbul at the time of his death, and Turkish sources say he will be buried near the tombs of the sultans who were his ancestors.
Related Links
- Ertugrul Osman Dies at 97
This New York Times obituary presents a brief biography of Osman. (Source: New York Times, October 22, 2009) - Turks Mourn Relative of Ottoman Sultan
This article discusses the removal of the sultan and Turkish reaction to the death of Osman. (Source: CNN, October 23, 2009) - The Ottoman Empire
This article describes the role of the Ottoman Empire in Islam and the creation of the secular Republic of Turkey. (Source: BBC, October 22, 2009) - A Country Study: Turkey
This country study from the Library of Congress provides comprehensive information on every aspect of historical and modern Turkey. (Source: The Library of Congress, October 23, 2009)
