Marthe Franceschini

{{expand French|topic=bio|Marthe Franceschini|date=May 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}

Marthe Franceschini (1755 - 1799), renamed Lalla Dawiya was a slave concubine and then the wife of Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco (r. 1757–1790).Jacques Caillé, Une Corse sultane du Maroc : Davia Franceschini et sa famille, Paris, Pédone, 1968

She was born in Corsica, but Doctor William Lempriere who met her reports that she was an Italian woman native of Genoa.{{Cite book |last=Lempriere |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2ZCAAAAcAAJ&q=Lalla |title=A Tour from Gibraltar to Tangier: Sallee, Mogodore, Santa Cruz, Tarudant; and Thence, Over Mount Atlas, to Morocco: Including a Particular Account of the Royal Harem, &c. By William Lempriere, Surgeon |date=1793 |publisher=J. Walter; and sold |pages=375 |language=en}} When she was seven, she was kidnapped by corsairs and sold at the slave market in Morocco.

Described as a beauty, she was acquired by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah as a slave concubine in his harem. She eventually gained a favorite position in the 'Alawi harem. As such, she converted to Islam and was given the name Lalla Dawiya. In 1786, the sultan made her one of his legal wives.{{Cite book |last=Lempriere |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2ZCAAAAcAAJ&q=Lalla |title=A Tour from Gibraltar to Tangier: Sallee, Mogodore, Santa Cruz, Tarudant; and Thence, Over Mount Atlas, to Morocco: Including a Particular Account of the Royal Harem, &c. By William Lempriere, Surgeon |date=1793 |publisher=J. Walter; and sold |pages=375–377 |language=en}} She maintained diplomatic contacts with Europeans rulers such as Napoleon I.