Ertuğrul Osman, also known as Osman Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu with a surname as required by the Turkish Republic, was an Imperial Prince of the Ottoman Empire and the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman from 1994 until his death. Had the Ottoman Empire not been dissolved and succeeded by the Republic of Turkey, he would have become caliph and Grand Sultan Osman V. He was also known as Grand Sultan Ertuğrul II in reference to Ertuğrul, the father of Osman I. Until the abolition of the monarchy on 1 November 1922, Osman was addressed as His Imperial Highness Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi Hazretleri, Imperial Prince of the Ottoman Empire. He is known as "the Last Ottoman" in Turkey.
Biography
Osman was born on 18 August 1912 in Istanbul. He was the youngest son of Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin. His father served as a Captain of the Ottoman Army. From 1914 to 1919 his father was crown prince and titular king ofAlbania by his marriage to his first wife, Aliye Melek Nazlıyar, daughter of Huseyin Bey. They married at Nişantaşı, Nişantaşı Palace, Pera on 7 June 1909 and divorced in 1919. Osman's paternal grandparents were Sultan Abdul Hamid II and Mezidimestan Kadın. In 1924, while studying in Vienna, Austria, he received news that all members of the Sultan's family were to be exiled. He lived in the United States from 1933 and later resided in New York City. He was educated in mining engineering. He worked as consultant for a Canadian company Wells Overseas which often sent him to South America. Osman lived modestly in Manhattan after 1945, residing in a two-bedroom apartment above a restaurant. He returned to Turkey in 1992, having been invited by the country's government. At that time, he observed, "Democracy works well in Turkey." He became the 43rd Head of the Imperial House of Osman in 1994. Osman was granted a Turkish passport and citizenship in 2004. Osman spoke Turkish, English, German and French fluently and understood Italian and Spanish. He died aged 97 on 23 September 2009. The Turkish Ministry of Culture announced that Ertuğrul had died in his sleep as a result of kidney failure. His wife, who was by his side, when he died, also confirmed the cause of death. The Prince had spent one week in Istanbul's Memorial hospital at the time of his death. Osman's funeral was held at the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul on 26 September. His body was interred next to his grandfather Sultan Abdul Hamid II in Istanbul’s Çemberlitaş neighborhood. His coffin was draped with the Imperial Ottoman Standard and his funeral was attended by Turkish Government Ministers. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and the President of the Republic of Turkey both sent condolences to the Imperial family. The Prime Minister also later visited Osman's widow at a former Imperial Palace to express his condolences.
