Melek Tourhan

Melek Hassan Tourhan (27 October 1869 – 4 February 1956) was the second wife of Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt. After her husband ascended the throne in 1914, she became known as Sultana Melek. Early life Born in Istanbul in 1869, Melek was a Circassian. However, unlike many Circassians in the Ottoman era, she was not a slave. Emine Foat Tugay, whose mother Princess Nimet Mouhtar was a friend of Melek, described her as "a pocket Venus, tiny but perfectly proportioned, a pretty, lively brunette, with great charm." Tugay states in her family memoirs that "as a child [Melek] was delicate and was often sent to spend a fortnight with Neshedil Qadin [wife of Khedive Isma'il and mother of Princess Nimet] in the salubrious air of Zaaferan." Melek's father Hasan Tourhan Pasha was a captain in the Ottoman Navy. When Melek was still an infant, he offered her for adoption in order to improve her lot in life. Melek was adopted by Jeshm Afet Hanim, the third wife of Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Egypt.