Turkey
Cardozo, Abraham
Cardozo was a member of a Portuguese Marrano family. (The Marranos are the Jews of Spain and Portugal who involuntarily converted to Christianity in the 14th century and later, many of whom... [more]
Chosroes II
Chosroes was the son of King Hormizd IV, in whose overthrow and assassination in 590 he participated. After his father's death he escaped to the Byzantine Empire and was adopted by Emperor ... [more]
Eumenes I
Eumenes was the nephew and adopted son of Philetairos, first Attalid ruler of Pergamum (now in western Turkey). Eumenes succeeded to the throne when Philetairos died and obtained Pergamum's... [more]
Gökçen, Sabiha
Gökçen was one of the adoptive (or foster, sources differ) daughters of Kamal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey. His other adoptive daughters included professor Afet İnan ; he also ado... [more]
Hadrian (under Roman Empire)
Ancient Roman society institutionalized the adoption of adults. It was relatively common for a wealthy Roman couple to adopt an adult man, even a slave, as heir if they did not have any son... [more]
Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim was the eldest adopted or birth son (sources disagree) of Muhammad 'Ali Pasha, viceroy of Egypt, from a dynasty of Albanian and Turkish origins. In 1805 he was made governor of C... [more]
Janissaries
These were members of the elite infantry of the Turkish sultans in the middle ages. For part of their history, starting in the 1380s under Sultan Murad I, until 1638, they were recruited... [more]
Michael V Kalaphates
Michael was the son of a caulker and the sister of Emperor Michael IV. About 1035 he was adopted by Zoe, Michael IV's wife, and renamed Caesar. When Michael IV died in 1041 Zoe proclaimed M... [more]
Midas
The semi-mythical king Midas (it is possible that his story is partly based on the life of one of several real King Midases) is most famous for his short-sighted wish that everything he tou... [more]
Pasha, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa
Pasha was born near Marinca, the son of a cavalry officer with good family connections named Derwish Beg, Urudj Beg or Hasan Beg. At some point, probably as a teenager, he was taken as a fo... [more]
Pliny the Younger (under Roman Empire)
Ancient Roman society institutionalized the adoption of adults. It was relatively common for a wealthy Roman couple to adopt an adult man, even a slave, as heir if they did not have any son... [more]
Sargon I
Sargon united the kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad, including parts of modern Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. His early life is largely a mystery. One ancient Sumerian legend states that he was th... [more]
Seymour, Alan
Seymour was born in Perth and orphaned at an early age. He started out working in radio stations and as a broadcaster, after leaving school at 15. His plays include The One Day of the Ye... [more]
İnan, Afet
İnan was one of six or seven adoptive (or foster, sources differ) daughters of Kamal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder of modern Turkey (see also: Sabiha Gökçen ). He also adopted a son and... [more]
Zvi, Sarah
Sarah was a Jewish girl and the daughter of a rabbi from Podolia (then in Poland, now in Ukraine) whose parents were murdered in a pogrom in 1648. She was then, according to one version ... [more]
