Roxelana biography

194: Hürrem Sultan

Her name meant The Laughing or Joyful One

Born: c.1505, Rohatyn, Poland (Present-day Ukraine)

Died: April 1558, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (Present-day Istanbul, Turkey)

Also Known As: Roxelana or Roxolana

Born Name: Aleksandra Lisosvka

After being kidnapped and sold into slavery as one of the sultan’s many concubines, Roxelana rose through the ranks to becoming the wife of Süleyman the Magnificent’s.

Unlike most concubines who were sent away after their first son came of age—Roxelana gave the emperor around six children, five of which were sons.

Their marriage was extraordinary as most Sultans never felt the need to marry—their sons from the Concubines were already their heirs so there was no need.

However, once he married Hürrem she was freed from slavery.

Her surviving writings include affairs of state with the king of Poland and the sister of Persia’s Shah. Hürrem commissioned a mosque, two schools, a hospital, and an Islamic bath house.