Jeshm Afet Hanimefendi

Jeshm Afet Hanim (; ; died 11 November 1907) was the third wife of Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Egypt. She was the adoptive mother of the future Sultana of Egypt, Melek Tourhan.

Life Jeshm Afet was originally a concubine bought to the harem of the Muhammad Ali dynasty from the Circassian slave trade. She married Isma'il Pasha as his third wife just after his accession to the throne in 1863. She was given the title of "Third Princess", a position at which she remained throughout his entire reign, until his deposition in 1879. In Egypt she was known as Kutschuk Hanim or Little Lady. She mostly wore traditional Ottoman garments, featuring a few western details. In 1869, she met with the Princess of Wales Alexandra of Denmark, when the latter visited Istanbul with her husband Prince of Wales Edward (future Edward VII).

Al-Tahtawi's book on the education of women, titled al-Murshid al-Amin lil Banat wa al-Banin (the faithful guide for girls and boys) published in 1873, was commissioned by Khedive Ismail after Jeshm Afet, used her own money to establish the first general public school for girls at al-Suyufiya in 1873, the Suyufiyya Girls' School, which claimed additional fame to her. The genealogy of the dynasty revealed that Jeshm Afet had no children of her own, which might explain her interest in the education of young girls.

Hasan Tourhan Pasha, a captain in the Ottoman Navy offered an adoption of his daughter Melek, in order to improve her lot in life. Melek was adopted by Jeshm Afet, during the 1870s. While they lost touch with each other following the exile of Khedive Ismail, when Melek Hanim became the second wife of Prince Husein Kamel in 1887 returning to Egypt with him, she resumed her acquaintance and a relationship with Aisha Taymur. There was no doubt that the relationship between Jeshm Afet and Taymur was shaped by their mutual interest in women's education and poetry that reflected the changing interests and concerns of some royal and upper-class women beyond mothering and feminine crafts. and was buried at the Khedival Mausoleum, Al-Rifa'i Mosque, Cairo, Egypt.

In popular culture In the 2014 Egyptian historical drama series Saraya Abdeen, Jeshm Afet is portrayed by Egyptian actress Sawsan Arshid.

Gallery