Müfide İlhan
Müfide İlhan | |
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Bodrum, Turkey | |
Occupations |
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Known for | First woman mayor in Turkey |
Müfide İlhan (19 February 1911 – 2 February 1996) was a Turkish politician. She was the mayor of Mersin in the early 1950s and is known as being the first woman mayor in Turkey.
Early life
Müfide İlhan was born on 19 February 1911 in
First marriage
In 1928 she married Nuri Çetinkaya an army officer. She accompanied her husband in various Turkish cities such as
Second marriage
In Ankara she met with Doctor Faruk İlhan. But Faruk İlhan had to travel to Kabul, Afghanistan to establish the Medicine school of Kabul University. They married in Kabul. In 1945 towards the end of World War II, the couple decided to return to Turkey. But because of the war-time hardships and unrest in Karachi, the couple was not able to sail back. So, they returned home by a car over Iran, which seemed impossible to many people in 1945. In 1946, they decided to settle in Mersin, Faruk İlhan's home city.
Political life
In Mersin she began to get interested in politics.
İlhan, as most reformists of the day, was against the authoritarian administration of pre-1950 CHP government. However she was not against the ideology of CHP, so called
On 17 December 1951, after a year of extensive work, she resigned from her post. After a while she also resigned from the party. She formed a league named 'League for supporting independent candidates' in Mersin. She also published a short lived bulletin named Mücadele (English: Struggle). However, after her husband was appointed to İzmit as chief physician she left Mersin in 1955.[1]
Other activities
Between 1968 and 1981 she worked as a teacher in Germany for Turkish immigrants.[6] She worked in a number of social associations. In her later years she donated to hospitals and a retirement home in Mersin.
Personal life
Müfide had seven children; two daughters from the first marriage, one son and three daughters from the second marriage and one adopted son. In 1965, she was elected as the 'mother of the year' by the Turkish Association of Mothers.[7]
Legacy
A neighborhood in Akdeniz municipality and a public park in Yenişehir municipality are named after her. One of the art galleries of İçel Sanat Kulübü (the main art club of Mersin) is also named after her. On 4 April 2015 the municipality of Mersin erected a statue of Müfide İlhan [8]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-605-62343-9-2, p. 11
- ^ Information (in Turkish)
- ^ İçel Sanat Kulübü dergisi, 175, Abdullah Ayan: Bilinmeyen Müfide İlhan
- JSTOR 4322247.
- ^ Online article by Fatma Yılmaz (in Turkish)
- ^ "Online newspaper article". Todayszaman.com. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2011-01-02.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Evlerin Önü Mersin, Mersin Liseliler derneği, 1987, p. 54
- ^ Hürriyet newspaper