Yusef of Morocco

Moulay Yusef ben Hassan (; – 17 November 1927) was the Alawi sultan of Morocco from 1912 to 1927. He was the son of Hassan I of Morocco, who was the son of Muhammad IV of Morocco.

Early life The Sultan beneath the royal parasol on a visit to Casablanca, October 1913.

Moulay Yusef was born in the city of Meknes in 1882 to Sultan Hassan I. His mother was a Circassian concubine called Amina who Hassan received from the merchant Hajj Lʿarbi al-Humaydi Bricha. She was sold or given to Hassan in 1878 along with Ruqaya, mother of Abdelaziz. He had a twin brother, Moulay Mohammed al-Tahar.

His early life is obscure and he had a traditional education from private tutors. He only emerged in public life in 1912 when his brother Sultan Abd al-Hafid appointed him as khalifa (viceroy) of Fez. Yusuf became khalifa while Abd al-Hafid was transferred to Rabat due to Hubert Lyautey fearing that Abd al-Hafid would slip away to join the tribes around Fez and declare a jihad against the French.

Reign He inherited the throne from Sultan Abd al-Hafid, who abdicated after the Treaty of Fez (1912), which made Morocco a French protectorate.

Personal life

Moulay Youssef married three times and had at least eight children. The fact that he had a harem is not explicitly stated, it is only indicated that he had a slave concubine whom he ended up marrying. Here are the descent he had with his wives:

Lalla Yacout, whose last name is not recorded, was his first wife. Their marriage took place around 1907, she died on September 1, 1953, and was buried in Fez. Among their children are:

Moulay Idriss (1908–1962), he was removed from the order of succession because he suffered from an autoimmune disease; Sultan Sidi Mohammed (1909–1961), better known as King Mohammed V; Lalla Amina, Moulay Abdeslam, born in 1914. he married her around 1915. They had no children together. she married a man from the Boufarès family, their son was Moulay Mamoun Boufarès. The latter, together with his wife, had a daughter. The daughter became Princess Lalla Oum Kelthoum, the wife of Prince Moulay Rachid.

Aïsha, a slave concubine of unknown origins whom Moulay Youssef ends up marrying. Around 1924, she was offered to the sultan by the Pasha of Marrakesh Thami El Glaoui.