Romalı Perihan

Perihan Özkurt (born Perihan Benli; 18 March 1942 – 5 May 2016), best known as Romalı Perihan, formerly Perihan, Princess of Esfandiari-Bakhtiari, was an internationally known Turkish soprano, socialite, painter, model, columnist, and actress who was married to the late Iranian nobleman Bijan, Prince of Esfandiari-Bakhtiari in Italy.Born and raised in Rome, Italy, Romalı Perihan was the sister-in-law of Her Majesty The Queen Soraya. She was once nicknamed "La Bella Turca" and "La Turca Romana" by the Italian media and was often referred to as Princess Romalı Perihan or Princess Soprano. Before pursuing a career as a singer at the age of seventeen, she briefly attended the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. She became one of the leading figures in European high society. Fluent in Italian and Turkish, Romalı Perihan spoke five languages.Romalı Perihan was the Honorary President of the Cultural Foundation of Poets Ashiks and Writers (Turkish: Şair Ozan ve Yazarlar Kültür Derneği). She acted in multilingual cinema chiefly from 1960 to 1982, doing several films in Italian with renowned director Federico Fellini, for whom she was a favourite subject. She is known as the only Turk to appear in a Fellini film. She also acted in films directed by such well-known artists as Antonio Margheriti, Dino De Laurentiis, Remzi Aydın Jöntürk, Roberto Bianchi Montero, Sergei Bondarchuk, Yılmaz Güney, and Zeki Alasya. She should not be confused, as often happens, with the homonymous artists Peri-Han who was famous for her vamp roles and Perihan Tamer, a famous belly dancer. That is actually why Zeki Müren created the nickname "Romalı Perihan" (Turkish: Perihan of Rome), referring to Perihan's hometown, Rome. However, in the European media Romalı Perihan was sometimes credited as Peri-Han, Peri Han, and Pery Han. She died aged 74 in Istanbul on 5 May 2016. Özkurt was interred at Ayazağa Cemetery following the religious funeral service held at Bebek Mosque on 7 May.