Very insightful Timeline documentary about her
John Steinbeck while in Ukraine also noted the cheerful spirit of Ukrainian women.
In the 16th century a Ruthenian/Ukrainian woman was taken captive and brought to Istanbul as a slave. Her joyful spirit earned her a name Hurrem – ‘the Cheerful One’. She rose to become Suleiman’s legal wife and ‘Queen of the Ottoman Empire’ known in history as Hurrem Sultan or Roxelana
