Latife Uşşaki

Latife Uşakizâde
First Lady of Turkey
In role
October 29, 1923 – August 5, 1925
Succeeded by Mevhibe İnönü
Personal details
Born Latife Uşakizâde
17 June 1898
İzmir, Ottoman Empire
Died 12 July 1975(1975-07-12) (aged 77)
Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality Turkish
Spouse(s) Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1923–25)
Residence Çankaya Köşkü (official)
Alma mater University of Paris
Law school in London
Profession Jurist

Latife Uşakizâde (later Latife Uşaklıgil after the Surname Law of 1934; with the honorifics, Latife Hanım)[1] (17 June 1898 – 12 July 1975) was Mustafa Kemal Pasha's (later Atatürk) wife between 1923 and 1925. She was related from her father's side to Turkish novelist Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil.

Biography

She was born in 1898 in İzmir to one of the most prominent trading families of the city, with roots in the city of Uşak, whence their unofficial family name of Uşakizâde. She completed her high school studies in İzmir and in 1919 she went abroad to study Law in Paris and London. When she came back to Turkey, the Turkish War of Independence was nearing its end.

On 11 September 1922, upon returning to her family mansion in Izmir, she was confronted by soldiers who notified her that the Pasha had taken the house as General Headquarters in Izmir. After convincing the soldiers that she actually belonged to the household, she was allowed in.

They married on 29 October 1923, when Mustafa Kemal Pasha had returned to İzmir just after his mother Zübeyde Hanım's death. For nine months, Lâtife Hanım symbolized the new face of Turkish women as a first lady who was very present in public life which, in Turkey, was a novelty by the standards of her day. She had a significant influence on the reforms which began in Turkey in the 1920s for the emancipation of women. Likely influenced by her husband's staunch secularism, she discarded her Islamic head covering and urged Turkish women to do the same.[2]

However, the relationship between her and her husband was cut short after the summer of 1925. They divorced on 5 August 1925. Lâtife Hanım lived the rest of her days in İzmir and İstanbul, in virtual seclusion, avoiding contacts outside her private circle until her death in 1975. She never remarried, and remained silent about their relationship throughout her life. In 2005, the Turkish Historical Society was to make her diaries public "except for the most private ones, taking the views of her family into consideration". However, her family publicly claimed that they had the right to the ownership of the letters and stated that they did not wish the diaries to be published. Consequently, the society decided against the publication.[3][4]

A comprehensive but also controversial biography of Latife Hanım by the veteran Cumhuriyet journalist İpek Çalışlar was published in 2006.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Turkey in the 21st century: The Legacy Of Mrs Ataturk". Pelin Turgut. The Independent. 1 July 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  2. 1 2 "Atatürk, his wife and her biographer". Emrah Güler. Turkish Daily News. 25 August 2006. Archived from the original on 29 August 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-29. (archive.org link )
  3. ↑ "Ataturk diaries to remain secret". BBC. 4 February 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
  4. ↑ "Sezer'e verilmeyen mektupları bize verin". Hürriyet. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  • İpek Çalışlar (2006). Latife Hanım ISBN 978-975-991-517-9 (in Turkish). Doğan Kitap. templatestyles stripmarker in |title= at position 14 (help)
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