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Another female ruler who catches the imagination to this day is Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Her image will be forever connected to the representation by Elizabeth Taylor in the movie. Black square wig, classical features and huge, kohl lined eyes and vivid eye shadow, not to mention fabulous clothes. Of all the attributes only the clothes seem to have any connection to the truth.

Cleopatra VII Philopator was born in 69BC. She was a hellenistic ruler and her main language was Greek. So was her appearance and her hair do. As contemporary coins and statues show, Cleopatra was far from beautiful. She had a big, hooked nose and wore her hair in the hellenistic style.

Her seductive powers over first Ceasar and later Marc Anthony were hardly owed to her physique. She was however a highly intelligent and educated woman, who spoke nine languages. She was actually the first of the pharoes to speak Egyptian. Undoubtedly, Cleopatra had great charm and charisma as well as, reportedly, a musical voice. She was also a  ruthless and shrewd politician and her relationships with Caesar and Marc Anthonyt might have had more to do with her intentions to secure her powers and throne than personal inclinations. Probalby both, to do her justice.

When she came to power aged only 18, she originally ruled with her father. After his death, she married her brother as was the custom of the Egyptian pharaoes, who was only 12. He was just a figure head, the real ruler was Cleopatra. After she became sole ruler, Rome threatened to conquer Egypt and Cleopatra’s liaison with Caesar began. That’s when the famous episode of the carpet took place. Legend has it, that she smuggled herself into his camp, rolled into a carpet from which she seductively emerged before him. Not surpisingly, Caesar was charmed and they became lovers and the parents of Caesarion.

After Caesar’s assessination and the power struggles which followed, it was Mark Anthony’s turn to fall into the politcal and personal web of Cleopatra. They had three children, including a pair of twins and Marc Anthony married her in an Egyptian ceremony although he was already married in Rome. Cleopatra wisely promoted her role as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis, the epitom of wisdom.

After the defeat of their joint armies in Actum, Cleopatra committed suicide by putting her hand into a basket full of poisenous snakes.

Without doubt, the fascination with this outstanding queen will endure.

Emma Lady Hamilton, the wife of Lord Hamilton and at the same time, lover of Lord Horatio Nelson, is another historic example of a woman who through beauty, intelligence and viles rose to fame and influence.

She was born as Ema Lyon in 1765 as the daughter of an illiterate blacksmith in England. At age 12, she came to London and got work as a nurse maid. She was very beautiful and delicate and it didn’t take her long to move into the circle of Mrs. Kelly, a well known and well connected madame of her time. Soon Ema met a wealthy man who set her up as his mistress in a cottage at his estate. When Ema, aged 16, became pregnant, she was placed under the custody of Charles Greville, who was a nephew of Lord Hamilton. She had already chaged her name to Emily Hart. Greville set her up in London and looked after her, under condition that she gave up her child and changed her lifestyle. Emma complied and Greville fell in love with her. He commissioned the painter Romney to do several portraits of her in classical and romantic poses.

Through Greville, Emma met Lord Hamilton, who was the British Minister at the royal court of Naples and a man of wealth and influence. History remains a bit unclear on the point, but several machinations between Greville and Hamilton resulted in the fact, that Emma travelled to Naples and started to live under the protection of Lord Hamilton. He soon fell under her spell and dedicated a lot of time and effort to her education. Emma learned French and Italian and had singing lessons. She became the centre of social life in Naples, but her position as ‘mistress’ of the widower Hamilton did not give her the full status she craved and aspired to. Emma became the confidante of Queen Maria Carolina of Naples who had great power and influence. Finally, in 1791 Emma and Lord Hamilton married and her position became legal.

Lord Nelson, the great war heroe, entered her life, when wounded in the Battle of the Nile and  was brought to Naples to recover. Emma nursed him back to health and their love affair began. From that time on, she, Hamilton and Nelson engaged in a manage a trois. Nelson was himself married but discouraged his wife to join him.

After the fall of Naples, the Hamiltons and Nelson returned to England. Emma was already pregnant with her and Nelson’s daughter Horatia. When Hamilton died, Emma was left rather poor, because Greville inherited most of his estate. Nelson did his best to support his ’second’ family, but Emma was constantly in debt. She even ended up twice in debtor prison. Her situation deterriorated after Nelson’s death. He had made a codicil to his will, leaving a share of his estate to Emma and his daugher, but it was ignored by is legitimate heirs.

Emma finally left England with her daugher and went to live in Calais/France. Poor and suffering from cirrhosis of the liver she died in 1815, 10 years after Nelson’s death. The only person to nurse her and care for her was Horatia.

Much has been written about the achievements of Catherine the Great as an empress and about her love affairs. This post is dedicated to the 16 years of misery she endured until her husband Peter III became Tsar and Catherine was closer to power.

She was born in 1729 as the German princess Sophia Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst. At the time, Elisabeth was Empress of Russia and through family ties she had heard about Sophia. She was looking for a bride for her nephew Peter, who was 14 and heir to the throne. Elisabeth thought, that Sophia might be a suitable wife for Peter and invited her and her mother to Russia. Sophia said good bye to Germany and her name, when she became engaged to Peter and came to live in Russia.

Peter however had a deeply disturbed personality. He was physically and mentally retarded and on top of it, prone to illnesses such a measles and small pox which left him unattractive. After her marriage in 1745, Catherine spent the next 16 years practically in a golden prison, exposed to a childish as well as violent husband. He adored Prussia and Frederic the Great was his hero. He spent his time dressing up dolls and servants, playing war games and even forcing his wife to participate. He also drank heavily and had the crudest manners. Catherine had no family and support in Russia and as a way out of her personal unhappiness, she learned languages and devored books, anything from Plato to Voltaire. Although it seems, that the Empress Elisabeth was fond of Sophia she did nothing to improve her fate. She was extremely concerned because the marriage remained childless. She blamed Catherine, until a medical examination revealed that a defect resulting from the measles Peter  had suffered was the cause. A minor operation was performed and Catherine became pregnant, giving birth to a son in 1754.

However, Elisabeth insisted on the child being brought to her quarters and educated there. Catherine never was allowed to spend time with her son. But she endured her 16 years of misery with courage and determination which can only cause the greatest admiration. Her de facto ‘excile’ only ended when Elisabeth died in 1761 and Peter became Tsar. He did of course not last long and, with the help of the army and the Orlovs, Catherine overthrew him and seized the throne herself.

Yesterday I touched on Napoleon and his indirect responsibility of the invention of Braille,  the script for the blind . It’s impossible to think of Napoleon and not mention his first wife, Josephine de Bauharnais, who was an outstanding figure in her own right and - perhaps, a role model for social climbing!

Born as Marie-Rose Tescher on the Carribean island of Martinique, she grew up on a sugar plantation. Her family was not very wealthy and was hard hit by a hurricane which destroyed their fields. Through the machinations of an astute aunt, Josephine met and married her wealthy first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais in Paris in 1779 and the family was in the money again.

During the Reign of Terror however, both Alexandre and Josephine were arrested and imprisoned. Whilst Alexandre was guillotined, Josephine luckily escaped that fate because Robbespierre was arrested and excuted. However, the  hardship of her imprisonment is thought by historians to have caused Josephine’s later infertility.

After she was freed and allowed to recover her husband’s wealth, the widow started her climbing in earnest. She became the mistress of several leading polititians until she met and enticed Napoleon in 1795. He fell hopelessly for Josephine’s charms and many moving and even sentimental love letters have survived. They married in 1796.

But, Josephine was not careful. Whilst the rising star Napoleon was on one of his war campaigns in Italy, she started an affair with a young hussar. Napoleon found out and was so enraged by her behavior, that from that moment on, he embarked on his  own line of numerous affairs. Josephine learned her lesson, but Napoleon’s feelings for her were never the same again. They did stay together however and in 1804 Josephine was crowned as the first Empress of France by her husband. As a monarch Josephine’s infertility became a serious issue, because Napoleon needed an heir to continue the monarchy. They divorced in 1810 and Napoleon married an Austrian princess with whom he had the much longed for and needed son.

Josephine moved to her charming chateau Malmaison near Paris and dedicated her time to botany and gardening, her hobbies. She was a spendthrift and drove Napoloen to distraction, but he nevertheless paid her debts. She died in 1814.

Despite the emotional ups and downs in their relationship it appears that Napoleon harboured deep feelings for Josephine, because his last word on his deathbed in St. Helena was “Josephine.”

Did you know, that Napoleon I, the French emperor (1769-1821) was indirectly responsible for the development and invention of ‘Braille” the most popular script used to communicate by and for the blind?

Napoleon was foremost a military leader, a general and conqueror. He was involved in 42 battles, until his final defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 at the hands of the British and sent into exile. His primary concern was about improving the conditon and capabilities of his armies in order to achieve victory. One reported incident concerns the desastrous outcome of an attack, when one of his soldiers lighted a match at night in order to read a message. His action revealed the positon of the soldiers to the enemy. Napoleon therefore sought for a means to enable his soldiers to communicate silently and without the need of a light at night.

To that end he instructed Charles Barbier de la Serra, a captain in his army in the early 1800 to invent a system which would achieve that aim. Barbier invented a ‘ruler’ similar to a slate, which consisted of squares and a 2 digit code which could be read noiselessly and ‘blind’ by finger touch. The drawback was, that it was very slow and difficult to manage. The soldiers, who needed to make use of the code, were not able to comprehend and learn the system, so it was ever used for the purpose it was orignally invented for.

Barbier then took his code to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris in 1821. Louis Braille, who had lost his eyesight through an accident at an early age, was student there. He was extremeyl bright and, even before meeting Barbier, had experimented with methods of ’written’ communication for the blind. When he became acquainted with Barbier’s code he immediately recognised the potential as well as the drawbacks. He proceeded to adapt and refine the method which is to this day known and used as “Braille”. 

The names Troy and Heinrich Schliemann are inevitably connected, because without his determination and considerable fiancial support, the famous site of Homer’s tales might still be buried. As interesting as Troy itself is - equally fascinating is the life of Heinrich Schliemann.
He was born in 1822 in Germany. He claims that his interest in Homer’s Ilias and Odyssee was instigated by his father, who gave the boy the book at an early age and Schliemann was hooked. Because his father was not very wealthy, Heinrich could not get the university education he desired, but he was nonetheless an avid reader and autodidact. His youth was an adventurous one. He started out as an aprentice in a grocery store, then moved to Hamburg and became a cabin boy on a steamer. During the first journey, the steamer ran into ground in a heavy storm. Schliemann survived and was washed ashore in the Netherlands. He stayed in Amsterdam and became a bookkeeper in the import/export firm of Schroeder & Co. Young Heinrich, who all the while continued with his private studies of Greek history, showed a lot of talent as a business man and was sent as the firm’s agent to St. Petersburg.
Apart from history, languages were Schliemann’s passion and he succeeded to learn 13 fluently. His language skills helped enormously with the import/export business and he soon prospered.
In 1851, his brother, who had made a fortune as a gold prospector in California died and Heinrich moved to Sacramento, where he established a bank. He only remained for a year during which he made his own fortune selling the gold dust brought to him my the miners.
For reasons unknown, he sold his business and returned to Russia where he made yet another fortune in the indigo market. He also had his hands in the trades connected with the Crimean War and became so wealthy, that at age 41, he decided to retire.
But retirement to Schliemann meant, that his real life was only starting. His wealth allowed him to travel and to seek adventures. He lived with Bedouins and finally turned his attention to Turkey and the realisation of his life’s dream: to discover Troy. At the time, it was dubious if the site was merely ficticous or really existed and archaeology was not a recognised science yet.
But Schliemann had money, time, knowledge and determination and when Culvert started the dig in Turkey, Schliemann took over. His methods of digging much too hurriedly and unstystematically have been critizised since, but he achieved the goal of his life time and published widely. He did have his run ins with Turkey though, because he removed gold treasures discovered in Troy from the country.
Not only was Schleimann successful in Troy but also in Mycenae and Tiryns. He died in 1890 of an ear infection gone bad in Naples.

We have looked at the Ottoman Sultans and Valide Sultans ruling the Ottoman Empire which came to an end in WWI when the allies defeated the Turkish troops, proceeded to occupy Turkey and developed plans to partition the vast country. Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, prevented that from happening.

He was born Mustafa Kemal in Salonika, which is today the Greek town of Thessaloniki. Although his father wanted him to persue a career in trade, Mustafa’s incliniations were towards politics and the military and he enrolled in the appropriate Academy. He advanced quickly and distinguished himself as a leader during the various battles fought by the Empire to defend Turkey against the allies.

He was dubbed Ataturk, “Father of the Turks” much later.  When Turkey was defeated and occupied by the Entente Powers, Ataturk joined and lead the Turkish National Movement. The Turkish War of Independence began until  the Entente Powers were defeated and the Republic of Turkey was declared in 1923 with Mustafa Kemal as its first president.

Apart from his prowess as a military leader, Ataturk’s goal was to transform Turkey into a democratic, secular, nation state. A parliament and government was established in Ankara, which became the new capital of Turkey. Education was  all important to Ataturk as was the integration of women in public life. He encouraged his countrymen to wear modern European style clothes and set an example himself with his famous Panama hat. He adopted 7 daughters and 1 son and his daughters played a big role in the integration and modernisation of Turkish women.

His daugher Sabiha Gukcen for example was the world’s first female combat pilot. Ataturk etsablished a new secular criminal code which was modelled on Italian law and a civil code which followed the Swiss example.

Along with his education reforms, he promoted the new Turkish alphabet which replaced the Arabic script of the Ottoman Empire. It is a variation of the Latin alphabet.

In 1934, women were granted full political rights and in 1935, 34 female MPs joined parlament in Ankara. Needless to say, that his drastic reforms, always guided by the motto: ‘Peace in Turkey, peace with the world’ met with resistence but Ataturk and his far reaching reforms prevailed.

On a personal note: he was a keen sportsman and avid dancer who liked to walz as well as participate in traditional dances. He died, only age 57, of a serious illness of the liver. It’s truly amazing how much this outstanding statesman was able to achieve in his relatively short life time.

Last in my series about powerful women during the period of the Ottoman Empire is Kosem who lived from 1589 to 1651. Like Nurban, she was of Greek origin. Born as the daugther of a priest on the Greek island o f Tinos, Kosem, whose original name was Anastasia, came to the sultan’s harem as a slave. Like Nurban and Roxelana, she distinguished herself by her great beauty and intelligent as well as by a fierce and ruthless determination to make it to the top.

She became the wife of sultan Ahmed the first and got her first taste of power and influence over politics of the vast Empire. When her son Murad IV followed his father to the throne, he was only 13 years old. Being a minor, he needed a guardian and regent and Kosem seized her chance. She legally ruled as queeen and Valide Sultana from 1623 to 1632. However, the years of her reign were troubled ones. Kosem attended the council meetings of the Divan behind a curtain for reasons of religion and modesty, but it was she who appointed a quick succession of Grand Vizir’s and made the final decisions.

Her son was followed by her grandson Mehmet IV, who was even younger, that is to say 7 years old and Kosem had another period as queeen and regent before her. Although she distinguished herself because of her charity work and the fact that she freed her slaves after 3 years of service, her politics displeased  the court and did nothing to appease the turmoil the empire found itself in.

Kosem didn’t shy away from removing enemies by whatever means she deemed fit, but finally found her master in the mother of Mehmet, named Turhan Hatice. Turhan managed to assemble a following of her own and ordered Kosem to be assassinated. The story of Kosem’s end is a gruesome one. It is reported, that courtiers and servants of Turhan chased Kosem through the palace, finally discovering her, hidden under a quilt. Then they proceeded to strangle her. However, the fierce 70 year old fought back and it took supposedly 4 men to finally choke her with a curtain. It was then reported to the Sultan, that she was dead, but the gruesome tale continued. She had only feigned her death, hoping to escape. Therefore, she was strangled and finally killed all over again.

Once she was dead however, she was honoured by three days of mourning by the people of Constantinople.

Roxelana, the beloved and powerful wife of Suleiman the Magnificent was the first ‘career woman’ who rose from the lowest ranks of a harem slave girl to become the sultan’s first ever legal wife with enormous influence over the ruler and his politics.

The story of Nurbanu is even more fairy tale like, except that it does not have a happy ending. Nurbanu was born as Cecilia Venier Baffo as a Venetian noble woman. When the Turks conquered the Aegean island of Paros, she was captured and because of her great beauty, sent to the harem of Prince Selim in Istanbul. Selim was the son of Roxelana and Suleiman and heir to the throne.

Quickly Cecilia, re-named Nurbanu or ‘Princess of Light’ captured the heart of Selim and advanced to the status of favorite wife. When he followed his father to the throne, Nurbanu took a keen interest in politics. She and Selim had a son, Murat, who was heir to the throne.

When Selim died in 1574, Nurbanu concealed his body and put it on ice for several days, until her son, who was governor of a remote province, could reach Istanbul to become Sultan Murad III. That was the time, when Nurbanu’s power really took off. She assumed the title of Valide Sultana (mother of the sultan) and was co-regent with her son. Whilst Roxelana has ‘ruled’ de facto although with the title of queen, Nurbanu did so de jure as well, being the offical co-regent. She managed the still vast empire together with Grand Vizir Sokullu Mehmet Pascha. Because of her Venetian birth, she pursued a vigorous pro-Venetian politic to the extend of arousing the enmisty of the then equally important rival of Venice, Genoa.

Nurbanu kept close contact with Catherine de Medici and other sovereigns of her time. She was a patron of the arts as well and commissioned architects to erect mosques and palaces.

She had however neglected the fact, that her mother in law, Roxelana was still alive and jealous of Nurban’s position. A power struggle between the two women and their respective followers ensued. Mystery and legend surround the suspicious death of Nurbanu in 1583. Some content that she was poisoned by the Genoese because of her pro-Venetian politics, other say, that she was murdered by followers of Roxelana.

Anyway, she was the first sultana, who was buried together with her husband.

Yesterday I told you about Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He was the first sultan of the Ottoman Empire who officially married. So far the sultans had up to 4 chief concubines. Their sons were heirs to the throne. Roxelana managed to change all that and became the epitome of a successful and extremely powerful woman in the Turkish world of the 16th century.

Born in Ukrainia, some say as the daughter of a priest, she was sold as a young girl in the slave markey of Istanbul to Suleiman’s harem. Not only was Roxelana (also known as Hurrem) very beautiful and charming, she was also highly intelligent and ruthless. Starting out as a slave/servant girl of the lowest rang, she quickly worked her way up. She was known as “the laughing one” because she was always cheerful and pleasant.

When presented to the sultan, she knew to seize her chance and managed to entice him to such extent, that she soon became one of the four concubines. Suleiman’s first concubine Gulfem, who had born him a son, Mustafa, who was heir to the throne did not take kindly to Roxelana’s ascent.

Roxelana managed to have her and her son banned to a far away province of the vast empire. She then had a son with Suleiman and subsequently achieved her main goal - to convince Suleiman to actually marry her. By doing so, Roxelana was elevated to the rang of Sultana. The sultan’s actions caused quite a stir, no only in his empire but throughout Europe.

However, Roxelana wasn’t home free yet. Her greatest enemy was the Grand Vizir Ibrahim, who greatly resented    Roxelana’s influence over Suleiman who consulted her on each and every affair of politics. Ibrahim considered that his role in the empire. Roxelana convinced Suleiman that Ibrahim was a traitor who wielded far too much power and was   a threat to   him. As a result of her intrigues, Ibrahim was executed and the way was free for the first sultana and her son.   Suleiman remained faithful to his Roxelana to whom he dedicated many moving love songs and poems and was heartbroken when she died 8 years prior to him. Her son Selim became the successor of Sultan Suleiman and the 11th sultan of the Ottoman Empire.