May Torok von Szendro
Encyclopedia
May Torok von Szendro, (Philadelphia, USA 15 June 1877- Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

 5 August 1968), was a Hungarian noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

, second spouse of the Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...

 Abbas II of Egypt
Abbas II of Egypt
HH Abbas II Hilmi Bey was the last Khedive of Egypt and Sudan .-Early life:...

.

Background

Daughter of Sofie Countess Vetter von der Lilie and stepdaughter of Hungarian inventor Theodor Puskas. She spent most of her youth at Wassen Castle South of Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. At age 12, she allegedly wrote short articles for various journals and played the piano. Her elder brother Count Josef Torok von Szendro (1873–98), following Austrian tradition, was enrolled at the Theresianum
Theresianum
This article is about the Theresian Academy in Vienna. For other uses of Theresianum, see Theresianum .Theresianum is a private boarding school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, which was founded by Maria Theresa of Austria in 1746.-History:-1...

, were he befriended Abbas Bey, an Egyptian prince. May and Abbas met at a ball
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...

 given by the Academy. Shortly thereafter, he was made ruler in Egypt. They met the second time in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1900, where they fell in love, and Abbas invited her to Egypt.

Marriage

The visit developed into a long romance culminating into a secret marriage contracted in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

's Montazah Palace, witnessed by two sheiks. The official marriage took place on 28 February 1910, with the Grand Mufti of Egypt officiating. May converted to Islam in the presence of the Grand Mufti
Grand Mufti
The title of Grand Mufti refers to the highest official of religious law in a Sunni or Ibadi Muslim country. The Grand Mufti issues legal opinions and edicts, fatwā, on interpretations of Islamic law for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases...

. She was then called Princess Djavidan Hanem, wife of the Khedive of Egypt. Abbas was separated from his first spouse, Ekbal Hanem, a former slave in his mother's household.

Khedive Ismail Pasha was the last ruler of Egypt to have a harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

, and upon his departure, the buyuk, ortangi and cucuk harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

s (first, middle and third consorts
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

), as well as the aghas (eunuchs) became out of use, and the custom at the Egyptian court had become one consort, until now. The marriage was controversial.

As consort

May accompanied the khedive on his travels to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 as well as inside Egypt, something unknown before. As court protocol disaprouved of women from participating in state events, May, with the complicity of her spouse, attended official receptions dressed up as a man. It was as a young palace official "dressed up in an irritating stuffy high collar and tarboosh that I accompanied the Khedive on 8 February 1909, at the laying of the final stone during the heightening of the Aswan Dam
Aswan Dam
The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902...

", she describes in her memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...

s. On one of these occasions, forgetting she was supposed to be a man, the Khedive looked affectionately at her and asked: "Mon amour, est ce que tu n'es pas fatigée?", which shocked people standing close by.

In her own memoirs, "Harem" published in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in 1930, attempts to describe the life of women in the confined inviroment of the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...

ic and Khedivial haramliks. She claimed to have an active role in the creation of Tchibukli Saray right from its drawing board, assigned and approved the landscaping of the palace garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s. As a member of the Red Cross she brought solace to victims of the first Balkan War of 1912. May entertained wives of foreign dignitaries at Mostorod Palace playing the piano. She also staged seance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...

s, which were however, stopped by Abbas.

In an article published 3 May 1928 in the Nationalzeitung, Abbas Hilmi's former Hungarian Kelemen A'rvay, describes Djavidan Hanem as: "a rare beauty and an intelligent warmhearted lady who had a soothing influence on the often petulant Khedive.", continuing: "She lived in splendor in Mostorod Palace near Matarieh. The fantastic property had a large garden and extensive agriculture domains whose revenue was assigned to her. She was the good spirit for Europeans at the Khedivial court."

Divorce

May and Abbas divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

d 7 August 1913. The reason was Abbas new relationship Georgette Mesny a.k.a. Andrée de Lusange, whom he met at Maxim's
Maxim's
Maxim's refers to several commercial enterprises:*Maxim's Paris - a restaurant and brand owned by Pierre Cardin*Maxim's Catering - a restaurant and bakery chain based in Hong Kong...

 in Paris the previous summer. According to Kelemen A'rvay, they returned to Egypt together. Lusange was described as :"was a 20 years old short, lean, heavily painted woman who distributed her favors for 20 francs and once in the khedive's entourage spied for the French government.", and she was also blamed for May’s departure: "It was her intrigues that pushed Djavidan Hanem to leave the palace and return to Europe."

Later life

She was given an allowance after the divorce and kept her Muslim name. She sold cosmetics in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and worked as an actress in Berlin in the 1920s. She wrote radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

-plays, authored several works including "Back to Paradise", "The Great Seven", "Soul And Body" and "Gulzar", and gave piano concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

s.

During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 she lived in Vienna and during the end of the war, moved to Innsbrück
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

 where she worked as an interpreter for the French Military Government in July 1945.

External links

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