Oprindelig hed Ali Nouri (alternativ stavemåde: Ali Nuri Dilmec) Knut Gustaf Noring (Thorup?) og kom fra Sverige. Han var forfatter, lærer og bogsamler fra Malmö. I 1879 rejste han til Konstantinopel og konverterede til islam. I 1884 blev han gift med en tunesisk prinsesse. Samme år udnævnt til tyrkisk generalkonsul i Athen, senere Serbien, Krim, og Rotterdam. Sultanens formål var at han skulle spionere på hans modstandere, ungtyrkerne. Men i stedet gik Ali Nouri over på deres side.
Prinsessen hed Hairie (alternativ stavemåde: Hayrye) og blev som 18 årig bortgivet som brud til en tyrkisk pasha som var polygamist. Efter to år blev det hende for meget og flygtede fra Tyrkiet. Allerede da prinsessen var omkring 25 år, holdt hun foredrag i Europa og USA om forholdene i tyrkiske harem.
Parrets sympatier for Ungtyrkere blev opdaget, og de faldt 1901 i unåde hos sultanen. Prinsesse Hairie undslap fra parrets hus i Konstantinopel der var under konstant overvågning af spioner, ved at nogle venner smuglede kufferter og hendes to børn ombord på et fransk dampskib til Galata i Grækenland. Det lykkedes hende at slippe uset ud af huset og køre til havnen. Hun ventede her i en kø indtil landgangen var ved at blive taget, hvorefter hun løb over en åben plads og sprang på skibet før nogen kunne nå at stoppe hende.
De rejste tilbage til Sverige og flyttede i de efterfølgende år rundt omkring, boede bl.a. også i København. I 1900-tallets første årti skrev Ali Nouri flittigt i vestlige medier og ofte citeret som ekspert på tyrkiske forhold. Da ungtyrkerne tog magten i Tyrkiet i 1909, rejste han tilbage til Tyrkiet hvor han levede i ubemærkethed til sin død.
En tyrkisk prinsesse som Foredragsholder.
Fra London skriver en Korrespondent: Vor By kan i de kommende Uger vente siq noget splinternyt paa Forelæsningsomraadet, idet man for første Gang vil se en tyrkisk Dame, tilmed en Prinsesse, offentlig optræde som Foredragsholderske.
Den paagældende Dame, hvis Navn er Prinsesse Hairie Ben Ayad, er gift med Ali Nouri Bej, fhv. tyrkisk Konsul i Rotterdam Begge er ivrige "Legitimister", d v. s. Tilhængere af "Sultan" Murad, Abdul Hamids Broder, der har været holdt fængslet i Konstantinopel siden Broderens Tronbestigelse.
Murad, fortæller Prinsessen, er ingenlunde sindssyg, som Rygtet paastaar, men fuldstændig rask, baade i aandelig og legemlig Henseende. Hun agter nu sammen med sin Mand at begynde en Agitation i England til Fordel for Murad; allerede mens de opholdt sig i Tyrkiet forsøgte de derpaa, men opnaaede kun at blive sat under retslig Tiltale, af hvilken Grund de strax flygtede til Vestevropa.
Som en Slags Indledning til sit "Felttog" agter Prinsesse Hairie at holde en kort Række Forelæsninger. Disse vil dog ikke omhandle politiske Forhold, men kun dreje sig om den tyrkiske Kvinde, hendes Liv i Hjemmet, Haremets Mysterier, Slaveriet i Tyrkiet og andre Warner, som kun en tyrkisk Kvinde kan vide Besked om.
Prinsesse Hairis, der er den første tyrkiske Dame af Rang, som offentlig viser sig i England, er en høj, mørk Kvinde med en smuk Figur og fine Ansigtstræk. Hun vil sikkert "gøre sig"
(Nordjyllands Arbejderblad 14. august 1901).
Princess after the Sultan
"THE secrets of the harem" are to remain secrets no longer. Simultaneously with the publication of M. George Dony's new book, "The Private Life of the Sultan," a lady of high degree has just come London to make a further expose. She proposes to begin a crusade against the degradation of her countrywomen, and after she has created a movement of reform to emanate from England, she will go to the United States.
This female knight errant of modern days is the Princess Hairie Ben Ayad, the wife of a former Turkish consul at Rotterdam, who has espoused the cause of the "Legitimist" party In Turkey and has, in consequence, been condemned to prison for ten years. He escaped to England and his wife has just joined him after numerous exciting experiences. The party of the "Legitimists"is in favor of the deposed sultan, Murad, the elder brother of the reigning monarch, Abdul Hamid. Murad has been in prison at Constantinople for over twenty-five years and his party claims that all evils in Turkey would be righted If he were restored to power.
The Princess Hairie bids fair to become the latest London fad and her movements are chronicled as if she were a personage of extraordinary Importance. She possesses great beauty, having a face of unusual refinement for the somewhat heavy brunette type of the east, and she carries herself in a regal way. She drives out with her husband frequently, but always veiled, wearing a long black satin cloak and hood, from which the veil hangs to the throat. In the house she loves to wear the close fitting garments of the European.
She is a daughter of the late Mahomond Pasha Ben Ayad of Tunis, who represented his country at the court of Franco during the time of Napoleon III and received several marks of honor from the emperor. He kept a magnificent harem of over 500, including his wives and female slaves, so that his daughter knows of things whereof she speaks, although her own husband has not indulged in the luxury of so many wives. She is the first Turkish lady who has ever set foot in Europe with the mission of making known the social condition of her native land, but she says that there are many other women in Turkey who would come forth In like manner If they dared, and that they are keenly conscious of their miseries.
The sultan himself seems to be the greatest polygamist. Although a law exists which permits a man to have only four wives at the same time and another which prohibits slavery, the sultan disdains to be bound by either law. But his greediness to adquire so many wives brings him no end of trouble, for each one becomes the center of a political faction as soon as she enters the royal palace. Many of them are very shrewd and ambitious, and sometimes not overly fond of his Imperial majesty. One of his wives was accused of conspiracy against him about a month ago, and the sultan shot her with his own hand. Another one was sent into exile as late as last week, being suspected of setting unto his majesty's bedroom. She was only saved from death because she had been a favorite wife for over fifteen years and she had a brother high in political power.
The sultan seldom condescends to marry legally any of his wives, according to the princess, unless he takes a fancy to the wife of one of his subjects who is powerful enough to refuse to give her up. The sultan then decrees her divorced and goes through the form of marrying her. If he becomes tired of a wife, one of his royal ministers receives her as a present whether the minister wants her or not. Another way of disposing of these wives is to present them to his political enemies, who dare not refuse them, and who thus take a spy into their own household in constant communication with the throne.
The women of Turkey could be well educated if the sultan and the religious teachers - who are his tools - would permit. But they have recently banished the English governesses from Turkish homes and they oppose the foreign schools, Catholic and Protestant, which have been established among them. The princess speaks very highly of the American school for girls at Constantinople, which, she says, is liberally patronized by the daughters of advanced Mussulmans, notwithstanding the opposition of the sultan. The priests try to keep the people, especially the women, In Ignorance. These priests are in the employ of the government; they are the official surveyors of the wards and delegated by the municipality to arrange the marriage contracts. But the priest acts in this respect more as a magistrate than as an official of the church and the marriage is merely a business contract. If the parents pay him an extra sum he will deliver a long prayer at the end, but otherwise not. The bride and bridegroom hold separate fetes in honor of their marriage. If either family has a large house the fetes are celebrated on the same day in different apartments, but If not they occur on different days.
The only thing in which the women score in Turkey is in the "dot." The husband must give a dowry to his wife If he marries her by law but what the wife brings remains still her own. Her husband has no legal right to appropriate It. It Is probable, however, that the poor Turkish woman as a general thing falls to enjoy this right, as well as so many others which are hers in law, but not In reality.
REBECCA A. INSLEY.
(The Illustrated Bee 20. oktober 1901)
I oktober 1901 besøgte Ali Nouri København, i hvilken anledning Nationaltidende 28. oktober 1901, 2. udgave bragte et næsten helsides interview med ham på forsiden. Han var da blevet dømt til døden af sultanen. Her udtalte han sig i kraftige vendinger imod den sultan som havde overtaget styret efter sin broder ved at erklære ham for sindssyg. I artikler i aviserne (Nationaltidende 17. november 1901, Dagbladet (København) 20. marts 1902, Nationaltidende 4. september 1903 2. udgave.) vedblev han herefter at berette om paladsrevolutionerne og omskiftelserne i Tyrkiet.
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