Velia Abdel-Huda

Princess Velia
BornVelia Abdel-Huda
26 January 1916
Cairo, Sultanate of Egypt
Died29 November 2012
SpousesPrince Osman-Oglu
HouseOsmanoğlu
FatherTawfik Abu Al-Huda

Princess Velia Osman-Oglu, born as Velia Abdel-Huda, and more commonly referred to as Princess Lulie (26 January 1916 – 29 November 2012) was a British art historian and socialite. She was also notable for being the first Muslim woman to study at the University of Oxford.[1]

Early life

Abdel-Huda was born in Cairo, Egypt into a family of Turkish diplomats in exile, with long experience of service to the Ottoman Empire.[1][2][3] Her grandfather was an adviser and astrologer to the last Ottoman Sultan and her father, Tawfik Abu Al-Huda, became Prime Minister of Transjordan.[1][2]

She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall where she studied modern History and graduated in 1939.[1] Consequently, Abdel-Huda was the first Muslim woman to study at the University of Oxford.[1]

During the Second World War she was recruited by the British Information Services and was posted to Cairo and then Palestine where she was engaged with the Palestinian cause and began a lifelong friendship with Freya Stark.[2] Abdel-Huda remained fervently pro-Palestinian freedom throughout her life, and considered the Palestinian people betrayed by the British.[2]

Once the war was over, she studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute under Anthony Blunt, and resided in Chelsea, London.[2]

Personal life

In 1963 Abdel-Huda married her cousin, Prince Osman-Oglu. She also had a thirty-year relationship with the British MP Sir John Foster.[2]

She was known for her sparkling dinner parties and her flamboyant personality.[2]

Abdel-Huda died on 29 November 2012 in London, aged 96.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Sarin, Sophie (2013), Princess Lulie Flamboyant: Art historian and friend of Freya Stark and Anthony Blunt, The Independent, archived from the original on 11 August 2022, retrieved 20 September 2017, Princess Velia Osman-Oglu of Turkey, known to all as Lulie, was the first Muslim woman to study at Oxford and to penetrate the British Establishment...She was born Velia Abdel-Huda in Cairo into a family of Turkish aristocrats and diplomats exiled in Egypt since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h May, Alex (2013), Obituaries 2012: Princess Princess Lulie 26 January 1916 – 29 November 2012, Oxford Today, University of Oxford, retrieved 20 September 2017, Velia Abdel-Huda, otherwise known as Princess Lulie, died on 29 November 2012, aged 96. She was born in Cairo into a distinguished Turkish family with long experience of service to the Ottoman emperors; her father was later Prime Minister of Transjordan.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Helen (2014), Women of the World: The Rise of the Female Diplomat, Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 183, Lulie Abul Huda, an Oxford-educated princess of Turkish ancestry.