SHOM Special Bookclub - Meet the author: Kenize Mourad - ONSITE & ONLINE event

NO MORE ONSITE PLACES AVAILABLE - Join us Online! 

This is an unique occasion to meet the author of the bestseller "Farewell Princess". It is the true story of her mother Selma, an Ottoman princess, granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey, of her childhood in Beirut, her arranged marriage to an India rajah, her death in Paris. Selma's family was exiled from Turkey in 1918; she died in occupied France in 1941. Kenize Mourad, born shortly before Selma's death, only learned the facts of her parentage at the age of 20. From the bare bones of a life and four years of research, she has reconstructed the lifestyle of the Ottoman harem, the mores of wealthy Muslims in Turkey and India. 

Kenize Mourad will tell us about her life, books and share with us her insights on the women’s roles in society.

To ensure the physical distancing, the number of onsite places is limited. We thank you for your understanding.

The Onsite event will start at 14h15.

The Online event will start at 14h30.

SHOM Special Book Club - Meet the author - Kenize Mourad

Click here for Zoom Meeting link

Meeting ID: 811 3397 0223

Passcode: SHOM

Born in Paris in November 1939, Kenizé Hussain de Kotwara is the daughter of Princess Selma Raouf, who was the grand-daughter of Murad V, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire . Her father was the Indian Raja of Badalpur. After her mother died in poverty when she was only a year and a half old, she was brought up in a Catholic environment by a French family. Kenizé chose to use the name Mourad in honour of her great grandfather who spent 30 years in prison and had no life.

In 1970, on graduating in sociology and psychology from the Sorbonne, she became a reporter for the french newspaper "Le Nouvel Observateur" in the Middle East, covering the Iranian revolution and the war in Lebanon. 

After working as a journalist for 12 years, she decided to turn to literature, upset by the censorship she experienced. "My work was never openly rejected," she explains, "but instead I would be told 'The article is too long' or the story would be delayed constantly until I gave up."

From 1983, she conducted four years of detailed research in Turkey, Lebanon and India as a basis for her novel "De la part de la princesse morte" which was published in 1987. It has been translated into 34 languages with English versions titled "Memoirs of an Ottoman Princess[" and "Regards from the Dead Princess". 

After further research in India, she continued the story of her family in "Les jardins de Badalpour", published in 1998 and subsequently translated into 12 languages.

More recently, she has published "Le parfum de notre terre : Voix de Palestine et d'Israël "(2003) and "Dans la ville d'or et d'argent "(2010), translated into English as "Our sacred land: voices of the Palestine-Israeli conflict" and "In the city of silver and gold: the story of Begum Hazrat Mahal."