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Turkey: The Empress consort Hürrem Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, known to Europeans as Roxelana (c. 1500-58)

Roxelana (c. 1500–1506 – April 18, 1558) was a slave who became a concubine who then became the beloved wife of Suleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire. Known in Ottoman Turkey as Hürrem or Karima, she was actually born Alexandra Anastasia Lisovska as a Ukrainian in Poland. In the 1520s, Roxelana was captured by Crimean Tatars during one of their frequent raids into this region and taken as a slave, probably first to the Crimean city of Kaffa, a major centre of the slave trade, then to Constantinople, and was selected for Süleyman's harem.

Roxelana quickly became the sultan’s favourite, enchanted as he was with her beauty and sensuality. Their romance inspired artists, poets and writers for many years after.