Osman Fuad

Osman Fuad
H.I.H. Prince Osman Fuad
Prince Osman Fuad in Ottoman Uniform as Commander-in-Chief of Ottoman forces in Libya (wearing his military decorations including the Gallipoli Star)
Head of the House of Osman
Term	4 June 1954 – 19 May 1973
Predecessor	Ahmed Nihad
Successor	Mehmed Abdulaziz
Born	24 February 1895 Çırağan Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died	19 May 1973(1973-05-19) (aged 78) Nice, France
House	Imperial House of Osman
Father	Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin
Mother	Jalefer Hanım
Religion	Islam

Osman Fuad (Çırağan Palace, Ortaköy, February 24, 1895 – 19 May 1973), was the 39th Head of the Imperial House of Osman from 1954 to 1973.

General of Ottoman Cavalry, Commander in Chief at Tripoli, Libya. Sometime Major à la suite of the Hussar Regt. Prussian Gardes du corps. Rcvd: the Collar of the Hanedan-ı-Ali-Osman, the Nişan-ı-Ali-Imtiyaz, the Nişan-ı-Osmaniye, and the Nişan-ı-Mecidiye special class in brilliants, GC of the Orders of the Red Eagle of Prussia, and Leopold of Austria (1917), Knt. of the Order of the Iron Cross 2nd class of Prussia. Succeeded on the death of his elder half-brother, Ahmed Nihad Efendi, as Head of the Imperial House of Osman, 1954. Had he been the reigning Sultan he would have been Grand Sultan Osman IV.

He was born as the third son of Prince Mehmed Selaheddin Efendi, by his sixth wife, Jalefer Hanım, and was a grandson of Murad V. He spent his early childhood confined to the Çırağan Palace, Ortaköy, in Constantinople. The Palace served as an enforced residence to his grandfather Murad V, who had been deposed in 1876, and replaced by his brother, Abdülhamid II. The restrictions imposed on the former Sultan extended to his entire family, and were not lifted until his death in 1904. On the death of his grandfather, Osman Fuad Efendi left this life of confinement and for a few years lived in the properties rented by his father in Feneryolu, Kuruçeşme, and Ortaköy, before returning to the Çırağan Palace to live with his grandmother Empress Şayan Kadın, the third wife of Murad V.

When Libya was invaded by the Italians in 1911, Osman was aged sixteen. He joined the Volunteer Officers force (Fedâî Zâbitân) raised by Enver Pasha and saw active service in the campaign. Osman Fuad Efendi, took part in the Cyrenaica Operation in the sanjak of Benghazi. Here, he made the acquaintance of Mustafa Kemal Bey, who was then a captain. On returning to Istanbul, he attended the Ottoman Military Academy. Once he had completed his studies there, he went to Palestine. Following this, he was sent to Germany together with his cousins Prince Abdürrahim Hayri Efendi and Mehmed Abdülhalim Efendi, where he studied at the Military Academy in Potsdam. After graduation, he joined the Imperial Guard of Hussars, where he held the rank of captain. After two and a half years in Germany, Osman was recalled to the Ottoman Empire, following the outbreak of the First World War. During his journey back to his homeland, the German submarine in which he was travelling was torpedoed by British submarines near the port of Kiel, and Osman suffered a head injury from the lid of an escape hatch. He was operated on at an Austrian military field hospital on the shores of the Adriatic. When he recovered, he was given a command in the Imperial Household Cavalry, with the rank of major. He was an accomplished soldier, and was one of many Imperial Ottoman princes who served bravely in the Imperial army throughout the First World War. He was first sent to Sinai, but his head wound reopened and he was sent to Aleppo for further treatment. It was while there that he met Mustafa Kemal Bey again, who was now also a major. While stationed there, they stayed at the Hotel Baron, which still survives to this day. Osman Fuad also fought at Gallipoli in defence of his homeland from the invading Allied forces and was awarded the Gallipoli Star. Like so many other Turks, he was wounded while serving there, but unlike hundreds of thousands he was lucky to survive. He was then transferred back to Constantinople, where he became deputy commander of the Imperial Household Cavalry, accompanying Sultan Mehmed V on his procession to and from the mosque for Friday prayers, and at other ceremonies. He also became the Sultan's personal aide-de-camp. However, Osman longed for active service and was soon sent to Libya once more, this time in the suite of Nuri Pasha, an uncle of Enver Pasha. He then returned to Constantinople for a short time until in January 1918, when he was only 23 years of age, he was promoted from the rank of major to that of major-general.