| Şehzade Ali Vâsib | |
| Birth Date: | 13 October 1903 |
| Birth Place: | Çırağan Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
| Death Place: | Alexandria, Egypt Buried East Side Cemetery, Nice France |
| Succession: | Head of the Osmanoğlu family |
| Reign: | 19 January 1977 – 9 December 1983 |
| Reign-Type: | Term |
| Predecessor: | Şehzade Mehmed Abdulaziz |
| Successor: | Şehzade Mehmed Orhan |
| Issue: | Şehzade Osman Selaheddin Osmanoğlu |
| House: | Ottoman |
| Father: | Ahmed Nihad |
| Mother: | Safiru Hanım |
Şehzade Ali Vâsib Efendi (also Ali Vasib Osmanoğlu; 13 October 1903 – 9 December 1983) was an Ottoman prince. From 1977 to his death in 1983, he was the 41st head of the Imperial House of Osman, the Ottoman royal dynasty.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Vâsib was born on 13 October 1903 in Çırağan Palace. He belonged to the family of the former Ottoman sultan Murad V, which was confined to the palace until Murad's death in 1904. His father was Ahmed Nihad, only son of Şehzade Mehmed Selaheddin and Naziknaz Hanım. His mother was Safiru Hanım. Ali Vâsib was very attached to Şayan Kadın, his paternal grandfather's third consort, who chose to stay at Çırağan Palace even after Murad's death. Vâsib called her "third grandmother" and often went to see her.[5] [6] [7]
Vâsib was educated at the Galatasaray and Harbiye Colleges in Istanbul. He attained the rank of Lieutenant in the Ottoman army infantry. He achieved the "Collar of the Hanedan-ı-Ali-Osman" and the "Mecidi Nişan", 1st Class.
On 30 November 1931 Vâsib married his half second cousin once removed Mukbile Sultan, the only daughter of Şehzade Ömer Hilmi, at the Ruhl Hotel in Nice, France. Mukbile was the granddaughter of Sultan Mehmed V (half-brother of Sultan Murad V, great-grandfather of Vâsib). The couple had one son, Şehzade Osman Selaheddin Vâsib Osmanoğlu, born on 7 July 1940), a chartered accountant. He married Athena Joy Christoforides; they have three sons and one daughter and grandchildren.[8] [9]
After the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and the abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate and the Caliphate in the following year, Vâsib and other members of his family were forced into exile.[10] They left Istanbul from Sirkeci railway station. Vâsib lived in Budapest for a few months, before settling in Nice, France. Other family members moved to the South of France and to Italy, including Vahideddin (Mehmed VI), who went to San Remo, and Abdulmecid (Vâsib's cousin and the last Caliph), who went to Nice after a short time in Switzerland.
The travel documents issued by the Turkish Republic to the members of the House of Osman on their exile were valid for only one year. Vâsib intervened with the French government to obtain passports for them. Vâsib made contact with the French minister Count Castellane through General Toulouse and his son, Captain Toulouse, who was a friend. The French passports listed the family as having Ottoman nationality and acknowledged their imperial titles.
In January 1935, Vâsib moved to Alexandria, Egypt with his wife and her family. For the next 18 years, Vâsib was the Director of the Antoniadis Palace, which served to accommodate foreign heads of state and dignitaries visiting Alexandria.
Vâsib was permitted to return to Turkey in 1974. From that time he visited annually. He lived with his wife in a humble rented flat in the old part of the city, near Sultan Ahmed Square. Vâsib's memoirs have been published in Turkish. Vâsib's son, Osman Selaheddin, transcribed the work from Ottoman Turkish script to present-day Turkish script.
On 19 January 1977, following the death of his cousin, Şehzade Mehmed Abdulaziz, Vâsib became head of the House of Osman. Had Vâsib become the reigning sultan, he would have been "Sultan Ali I".
On 9 December 1983, in Alexandria, Vâsib died from a stroke. He was 80. He was buried in Alexandria. His remains were subsequently moved to Sultan Mehmed V Reşad Mausoleum, Eyüp. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Ottoman prince. On his death, the Monarchist League wrote: "Prince Ali Vâsib will be remembered as a man of great charm. His ease of manner and his gifts as a raconteur were the hallmarks of one of the last of the grands seigneurs of the Gotha."
By his wife, Şehzade Ali Vâsib had an only son:
