Djavidan Hanum (1877-1968)

Djavidan Hanum

NOBLEMAN, PAINTER, PIANIST (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

BORN 15 Jun 1877, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - DIED 5 Aug 1968, Graz, Steiermark: Wittekweg 7
BIRTH NAME Török von Szendrö, Májuska
GRAVE LOCATION Graz, Steiermark: St. Leonhard-Friedhof (124-010-025)

Majúska Török was born into a noble Hungarian family in the USA. Her father was Count Joseph Christoph Török and her mother was Countess Sophie Maria Vetter von der Lilie. Her parents travelled in Europe and at a time when she didn't accompany them she lived for a year at Schloss Waasen near Graz. She was educated well.

The Egyptian heir to the throne, Abbas Hilmi, studied at the Theresianum in Vienna under Maximilian Hussarek. In 1892 Abbas was recalled to Egypt after the death of his father. He and Májuska probably met around that time. In 1900 they met again in Paris and he invited her to Cairo. They entered into a secret marriage. Only after she converted to Islam they married officially in 1910 and she took the name Djavidan Hanum.

She divorced her husband in 1913 and Abbas Hilmi II lost his throne in 1914. She remained a devoted moslim but at the same time she questioned the bad treatment of women in her book "Harem" (1930) and at other occasions. She ran a beauty salon in Vienna (1917-1918) and took piano lessons with Eugen d'Albert. She probably met the singer and actor Simon Kulatschkoff in 1922. In 1930 she published "Harem. Erinnerungen der Prinzessin Djavidan Hanum, frühere Gemahlin des Khediven von Ägypten" ("Harem Life of Princess Djavidan Hanum"). In the 1930s she gave piano concerts in Berlin. After the Second World War she lived with Simon in Graz where she became a successful painter.

Related persons
• was pupil of D'Albert, Eugen

Images

The grave of Djavidan Hanum at the St. Leonhard-Friedhof, Graz.
Picture by Androom (11 Sep 2004)