Fatma Zehra Hanım

Fatma Zehra Hanım was the wife of Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Paşa. Sources record her as the daughter of Hacı Emin Efendi, one of the scholars of the Şeyhülislam’s office, and Sıdıka Hanım of the Melikzâde family. Ahmed Muhtar Paşa married Fatma Zehra Hanım in 1863.

From this marriage were born Nimet Hanım and Mahmud Muhtar Paşa. Mahmud Muhtar Paşa was born in 1867 at the family mansion in Molla Gürani; he later continued his military education in Germany and served as Minister of the Navy in the late Ottoman period. The cabinet founded by Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Paşa in 1912 was called the “Father-Son Cabinet” because his son also took part in it as a minister.

In family memories, Fatma Zehra Hanım is remembered for her strong character. Her granddaughter Emine Fuat Tugay describes her as a lady noted for her intelligence, grace and charm, and relates that in her final years her eyesight weakened because of diabetes and her memory was affected.

According to the records of 1324 in the Hijri calendar / 1322 in the Rumi calendar, Fatma Zehra Hanım died in 1906 at the age of 59. Years later, Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Paşa was buried beside her in the same cemetery.