Abdülmecid Efendi (1868-1944)
Self Portrait. 1943
Abdülmecid Efendi, son of Sultan Abdülaziz was the 37th head of the Ottoman Imperial House and the last Ottoman Caliph. When his cousin Vahideddin ascended the throne in 1918, Abdülmecid Efendi also moved into the Dolmabahçe Palace as the heir apparent. In recognition of his progressive outlook and his support for the Nationalist cause during the War of Independence, Abdülmecid Efendi was unanimously elected Calip by the Parliament in 1922. […] He was a patron of the arts […] received instruction in art from some of the leading masters of the day such as Osman Hamdi and Salvatore Valerie.