Saadet Hanım

Saadet Hanım, whose date of birth is unknown, was the daughter of İsmail Hakkı Sâmi Efendi, one of the great masters of Ottoman calligraphy. Her father Sâmi Efendi worked as a letter-writer in the Mühimme Kalemi of the Imperial Council and later rose to the post of examiner in the Imperial Order Chancery.

Saadet Hanım’s husband was Suad Bey, one of the senior clerks of the Imperial Order Chancery from the same chancery circle.

Saadet Hanım died on Monday, 20 Shawwal 1320 (20 January 1903), and her death left a deep impression on her father Sâmi Efendi. Sources state that after his daughter’s death, Sâmi Efendi stopped practicing calligraphy for a time out of grief.

Saadet Hanım’s grave inscription in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery is also notable in terms of calligraphy. The inscription was written by Hacı Nazif Bey, one of Sâmi Efendi’s students. This celî sülüs inscription, which he left unsigned out of respect for his teacher, has been regarded as one of his most successful gravestone inscriptions.