Boris Georgiev, (1888 - 1962)
Haydarabad Princess Nilufar
Oil on canvas
50 x 65.5 cm
Private collection
Princess Begum Sahiba Niloufer Khanum Sultana Farhat of Hyderabad (4 January 1916 – 12 June 1989) was one of the last princesses of the Ottoman Empire. She was married to the second son of the last Nizam of Hyderabad in India.
Niloufer was born at the Göztepe Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, at a time when her mother's family was ruling the Ottoman Empire. Her father was Damad Moralizada Salaruddin Bey Effendi, a prominent member of the Ottoman court.
At the end of World War I, the ruling dynasty was deposed and Turkey was declared a republic. Later, in 1924, the Ottomans were exiled from Turkey. They settled in France
On December 20, 1931, at her maternal uncle's Hilafat Palace in Nice, Niloufer was married at age 16 to Moazzam Jah, second son of the last ruling Nizam of Hyderabad.
Unlike other ladies in her family (this is true of both her natal family in Turkey and her marital family in India) who felt that their dignity and honour lay in not making public spectacles of themselves, Niloufer preferred to move about the city quite freely, leaving the palace frequently to attend public engagements, cocktail parties and late-night revels. Her beauty and active public life received mention in the press, and she was featured on the cover pages of magazines. She was judged as one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world and was even offered several roles in films.
Niloufer made known to her father-in-law the problems arising due to this lack of medical facilities. As a result, a specialty hospital for women and children was built in the Red Hills area of the city. Indeed, the hospital was named Niloufer Hospital in her honour and she was named its patron. It was at her father-in-law's behest that Niloufer, during World War II, obtained training as a nurse, and helped in relief efforts in Hyderabad, where some Indian soldiers who had suffered injuries in the war theatres of Europe or East Asia were brought for recuperation.
Niloufer did not conceive a child. She travelled to Europe to consult doctors, because there were no specialist obstetricians in Hyderabad. In 1948, 17 years after his marriage to Niloufer, her husband Moazzam Jah took a second wife- Razia Begum, daughter of a local aristocrat in Hyderabad, which was in accordance with both Islamic law and tradition.
Eventually, in 1952, after 21 years of marriage, Niloufer and her husband were divorced. After her divorce, Niloufer moved to France where the Ottoman family had settled after their exile from Turkey. Niloufer maintained an active social life. On February 21, 1963, in Paris, Niloufer married Edward Julius Pope, an American war hero, author, and film producer. She died in Paris on June 12, 1989. More on Princess Nilufar
Boris Georgiev was born in Varna in 1888 and dies in Rome in 1962. His artistic education first took place in St. Petersburg (1905-1909), and then at the Munich Academy. In St. Petersburg, his teacher was Nikolay Roerich, whom he will later follow in the spiritual path, aesthetic ideas, and the worship of the wisdom of the East.
After completing his education, the artist began his remarkable journey - in Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Greece, Spain, Morocco.In 1929 he approached Albert Einstein, who highly appreciated his art and helped him to open an exhibition in Berlin. More on Boris Georgiev
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