Fatma Aliye Topuz
Encyclopedia
Fatma Aliye Topuz aka simply Fatma Aliye or Fatma Aliye Hanım, was a Turkish
novelist, columnist
, essayist, women's rights
activist and humanitarian. Although there is an earlier published novel by the Turkish female author Zafer Hanım in 1877, since that one remained her only novel, Fatma Aliye Hanım with her five novels is credited by circles of Turkish literature as the first female novelist of the literature of Turkey and the Islamic geography
.
civil servant and renowned historian Ahmet Cevdet Pasha (1822–1895) and his wife Adviye Rabia Hanım in Istanbul
. She had two siblings: a brother Ali Sedat and a sister Emine Semiye (1864).
Due to her father's position as Wali (province governor) to Egypt
and later to Greece
, she spent three years between 1866-1868 in Aleppo
and six months in 1875 in Janina
. In 1878, she stayed together with her family nine months in Damascus
, where her father was appointed.
Fatma Aliye was educated informally at home, since, at that time, it was not common for girls to enroll in formal classes even though there was no legal restriction on female education. Due to her intellectual curiosity, she acquired a high level of proficiency in Arabic and French.
In 1879, when she was seventeen years old, her father arranged her marriage to captain-major Mehmet Faik Bey, an aide-de-camp
of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II and a nephew of Gazi Osman Pasha, the hero of the Siege of Plevna (1877). She gave birth to four daughters: Hatice (1880), Ayşe (1884), Nimet (1900) and Zübeyde İsmet (1901).
Her husband was a person intellectually less endowed than her and, during the first years of their marriage, did not allow her to read novels in foreign languages.
's novel Volonté from French into Turkish under the title Meram with her husband's permission, ten years after her marriage. The book was published under her pen name
"Bir Hanım" ("A Lady"). Renowned writer Ahmet Mithat Efendi was so impressed by her that he declared her as his honorary daughter in the newspaper Tercüman-ı Hakikat ("The Interpreter of Truth"). Fatma Aliye attracted also her father's attention so that he lectured her and exchanged ideas with her. After her first translation, she used the pen name "Mütercime-i Meram" (literally: "The female translator of Volonté) in her consecutive translations.
In 1894, she co-authored the novel Hayal ve Hakikat ("Dream and Truth") together with Ahmet Mithat Efendi. She wrote the passages for the heroine while the passages for the male character was penned by Ahmet Mithat. The work was signed with "Bir Kadın ve Ahmet Mithat" ("A Woman and Ahmet Mithat"). Following this novel, the two authors exchanged a long time letters with each other, which were published later in the newspaper Tercüman-ı Hakikat.
Fatma Aliye published her first novel Muhazarat ("Useful Information") in 1892 under her real name, in which she tried to disprove the belief that a woman can not forget her first love. It was the first novel in the entire Ottoman Empire written by a woman. The book was reprinted in 1908.
Her novel Udi ("The Lute Player"), published in 1899, depicts a female oud
player, whom Fatma Aliye met in Aleppo. In this novel, she tells, in a plain language, the life story of Bedia, who made an unhappy marriage. Renowned novelist Reşat Nuri Güntekin
refers to Udi as one of the most important works, which attracted his interest in literature.
Her other novels are Raf'et (1898), Enin (1910) ("Groaning") and Levaih-i Hayat ("Scenes from Life"). She thematized in her works marriage, harmony between the spouses, love and affection, and the importance of curtailing
contrary to arranged marriage
. Further, she picked individualism
out as a central theme by creating independent and self-reliant heroines, who work and earn own money without the need of a man.
In 1893, her prominence grew up after the publication of Ahmet Mithat's book Bir Muharrire-i Osmaniye'nin Neşeti ("Birth of An Ottoman Female Writer") composed of Fatma Aliye's letters. In these letters, she expresses her never ending enthusiasm to learn.
Her essay Nisvan-ı İslâm was translated into French under the title Les femmes muselmannes and also into Arabic language, and her novel Udi into French. A criticism of her, published in a French newspaper, about a book titled "Women of East and West" by Frenchman Émile Julliard attracted much attention in Paris
. Also internationally acknowledged, her work was exhibited at the library of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago
, USA and was listed in the catalogue of the Women's Library at the fair. Despite her prominence until the Second Constitutional Era, she fell into oblivion with the time.
In 1914, she published her book Ahmed Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı ("Ahmet Cevdet Pasha and His Time") in order to defend her father against political attacks. In this work, she intended to present the political scene after the Second Constitutional Era
. However, its controversy to the official historical thesis led to the book's exclusion from the literature.
In her 1896 published book Nisvan-ı İslam ("Women of Islam"), Fatma Aliye explained the situation of Muslim women to the western world. As written in her magazine columns, she defended in this book the conservative traditions contrary to the modern characters she created in her novels.
. After the Greco-Turkish War
, she founded in 1897 a charitable organization
"Nisvan-ı Osmaniye İmdat Cemiyeti" ("Ottoman Women's Association for Aid") to support families of soldiers. It was one of the first women's organizations in the country. For her humantitarian efforts, she was awarded a medal by Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1899.
Fatma Aliye became also the first female member of the "Osmanlı Hilal-i Ahmer Cemiyeti" (Ottoman Red Crescent
). Furthermore, she worked for the "Müdafaa-i Milliye Osmanlı Kadınlar Heyeti" (Ottoman Women's Committee for National Defence), founded after the Italo-Turkish War
and Balkan Wars
in the 1910s.
. Fatma Aliye travelled in the 1920s several times to France in search of her daughter and also for her own health reasons. In 1928, she lost her husband.
Fatma Aliye adopted the family name "Topuz" after the introduction of the Surname Law
in Turkey, which was enacted on June 21, 1934.
Having lived her last years in poor health and financial distress, she died on July 13, 1936 in Istanbul. She was laid to rest at the Feriköy Cemetery.
Although Zafer Hanım wrote her novel Aşk-ı Vatan ("Motherland Love") in 1877, years before Fatma Aliye Hanım, she is not credited as the first Turkish female writer due to her only one work published.
Fatma Aliye's portrait is depicted on the reverse of the 50 Turkish lira
banknote issued in 2009. However, the Turkish Central Bank's decision to choose her to appear as the first woman ever so honored and as the first female Turkish writer created controversy among Turkish people of letters and historians. The critics argue that female writers like Halide Edip Adıvar
or Afet Inan
of the Republican Era are more appropriate to adorn a banknote with Atatürk
's portrait on the observe than is Fatma Aliye, who developed her ideas of women's rights in the context of sharia
(Islamic law) and who opposed Atatürk's reforms
.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
novelist, columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, essayist, women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
activist and humanitarian. Although there is an earlier published novel by the Turkish female author Zafer Hanım in 1877, since that one remained her only novel, Fatma Aliye Hanım with her five novels is credited by circles of Turkish literature as the first female novelist of the literature of Turkey and the Islamic geography
Islamic geography
Geography and cartography in medieval Islam refers to the advancement of geography, cartography and the earth sciences in the medieval Islamic civilization....
.
Early life
She was born as the second child to a leading OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
civil servant and renowned historian Ahmet Cevdet Pasha (1822–1895) and his wife Adviye Rabia Hanım in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. She had two siblings: a brother Ali Sedat and a sister Emine Semiye (1864).
Due to her father's position as Wali (province governor) to Egypt
Egypt Province, Ottoman Empire
Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War and the loss of Syria to the Ottomans in 1516. Egypt was administrated as an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 until 1867, with an interruption during the French occupation of 1798 to 1801.Egypt was always a...
and later to Greece
Ottoman Greece
Most of Greece gradually became part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century until its declaration of independence in 1821, a historical period also known as Tourkokratia ....
, she spent three years between 1866-1868 in Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
and six months in 1875 in Janina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
. In 1878, she stayed together with her family nine months in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, where her father was appointed.
Fatma Aliye was educated informally at home, since, at that time, it was not common for girls to enroll in formal classes even though there was no legal restriction on female education. Due to her intellectual curiosity, she acquired a high level of proficiency in Arabic and French.
In 1879, when she was seventeen years old, her father arranged her marriage to captain-major Mehmet Faik Bey, an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II and a nephew of Gazi Osman Pasha, the hero of the Siege of Plevna (1877). She gave birth to four daughters: Hatice (1880), Ayşe (1884), Nimet (1900) and Zübeyde İsmet (1901).
Her husband was a person intellectually less endowed than her and, during the first years of their marriage, did not allow her to read novels in foreign languages.
Writing career
She debuted in literature in 1889 with the translation of Georges OhnetGeorges Ohnet
Georges Ohnet was a French novelist and man of letters.After the Franco-Prussian War he became editor of the Pays and the Constitutionnel in succession. In collaboration with the engineer and dramatist Louis Denayrouze Georges Ohnet (3 April 1848 in Paris – 1918) was a French novelist and man of...
's novel Volonté from French into Turkish under the title Meram with her husband's permission, ten years after her marriage. The book was published under her pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
"Bir Hanım" ("A Lady"). Renowned writer Ahmet Mithat Efendi was so impressed by her that he declared her as his honorary daughter in the newspaper Tercüman-ı Hakikat ("The Interpreter of Truth"). Fatma Aliye attracted also her father's attention so that he lectured her and exchanged ideas with her. After her first translation, she used the pen name "Mütercime-i Meram" (literally: "The female translator of Volonté) in her consecutive translations.
In 1894, she co-authored the novel Hayal ve Hakikat ("Dream and Truth") together with Ahmet Mithat Efendi. She wrote the passages for the heroine while the passages for the male character was penned by Ahmet Mithat. The work was signed with "Bir Kadın ve Ahmet Mithat" ("A Woman and Ahmet Mithat"). Following this novel, the two authors exchanged a long time letters with each other, which were published later in the newspaper Tercüman-ı Hakikat.
Fatma Aliye published her first novel Muhazarat ("Useful Information") in 1892 under her real name, in which she tried to disprove the belief that a woman can not forget her first love. It was the first novel in the entire Ottoman Empire written by a woman. The book was reprinted in 1908.
Her novel Udi ("The Lute Player"), published in 1899, depicts a female oud
Oud
The oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
player, whom Fatma Aliye met in Aleppo. In this novel, she tells, in a plain language, the life story of Bedia, who made an unhappy marriage. Renowned novelist Reşat Nuri Güntekin
Resat Nuri Güntekin
Reşat Nuri Güntekin was a Turkish novelist, storywriter and playwright. His most known novel, Çalıkuşu is about the destiny of a young Turkish female teacher in Anatolia; a movie was filmed on this book in 1966, and a TV series were produced in 1986...
refers to Udi as one of the most important works, which attracted his interest in literature.
Her other novels are Raf'et (1898), Enin (1910) ("Groaning") and Levaih-i Hayat ("Scenes from Life"). She thematized in her works marriage, harmony between the spouses, love and affection, and the importance of curtailing
Courtship
Courtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...
contrary to arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
. Further, she picked individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
out as a central theme by creating independent and self-reliant heroines, who work and earn own money without the need of a man.
In 1893, her prominence grew up after the publication of Ahmet Mithat's book Bir Muharrire-i Osmaniye'nin Neşeti ("Birth of An Ottoman Female Writer") composed of Fatma Aliye's letters. In these letters, she expresses her never ending enthusiasm to learn.
Her essay Nisvan-ı İslâm was translated into French under the title Les femmes muselmannes and also into Arabic language, and her novel Udi into French. A criticism of her, published in a French newspaper, about a book titled "Women of East and West" by Frenchman Émile Julliard attracted much attention in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Also internationally acknowledged, her work was exhibited at the library of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, USA and was listed in the catalogue of the Women's Library at the fair. Despite her prominence until the Second Constitutional Era, she fell into oblivion with the time.
In 1914, she published her book Ahmed Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı ("Ahmet Cevdet Pasha and His Time") in order to defend her father against political attacks. In this work, she intended to present the political scene after the Second Constitutional Era
Second Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)
The Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire began shortly after Sultan Abdülhamid II restored the constitutional monarchy after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution. The period established many political groups...
. However, its controversy to the official historical thesis led to the book's exclusion from the literature.
Women's rights activist
Beside her literary works, she wrote for thirteen years between 1895 and 1908 columns in the magazine Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete ("Ladies' Own Gazette") about women's rights without giving up her conservative views. Her sister Emine Semiye (1864–1944), one of the first Turkish feminists, was also among the intellectual women as editorial staff of the twice a week issued magazine.In her 1896 published book Nisvan-ı İslam ("Women of Islam"), Fatma Aliye explained the situation of Muslim women to the western world. As written in her magazine columns, she defended in this book the conservative traditions contrary to the modern characters she created in her novels.
Humanitarian
Fatma Aliye was also engaged in charityCharity (practice)
The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...
. After the Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1897)
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...
, she founded in 1897 a charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
"Nisvan-ı Osmaniye İmdat Cemiyeti" ("Ottoman Women's Association for Aid") to support families of soldiers. It was one of the first women's organizations in the country. For her humantitarian efforts, she was awarded a medal by Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1899.
Fatma Aliye became also the first female member of the "Osmanlı Hilal-i Ahmer Cemiyeti" (Ottoman Red Crescent
Turkish Red Crescent
Turkish Red Crescent is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey and is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement....
). Furthermore, she worked for the "Müdafaa-i Milliye Osmanlı Kadınlar Heyeti" (Ottoman Women's Committee for National Defence), founded after the Italo-Turkish War
Italo-Turkish War
The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
and Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
in the 1910s.
Last years
Her youngest daughter Zübeyde İsmet converted in 1926 to Christianity, left Turkey to become a Roman Catholic nunNun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
. Fatma Aliye travelled in the 1920s several times to France in search of her daughter and also for her own health reasons. In 1928, she lost her husband.
Fatma Aliye adopted the family name "Topuz" after the introduction of the Surname Law
Surname Law (Turkey)
The Surname Law of the Republic of Turkey was adopted on June 21, 1934. The law required all citizens of Turkey to adopt the use of surnames. Turkey's Christian and Jewish citizens were already using surnames, but Muslims generally did not use Western-style surnames...
in Turkey, which was enacted on June 21, 1934.
Having lived her last years in poor health and financial distress, she died on July 13, 1936 in Istanbul. She was laid to rest at the Feriköy Cemetery.
Recognition and controversy
Fatma Aliye's portrait is depicted on the reverse of the 50 Turkish lira
Turkish lira
The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş...
banknote issued in 2009. However, the Turkish Central Bank's decision to choose her to appear as the first woman ever so honored and as the first female Turkish writer created controversy among Turkish people of letters and historians. The critics argue that female writers like Halide Edip Adıvar
Halide Edip Adivar
Halide Edip Adıvar or Halide Edib Adivar was a Turkish novelist and feminist political leader...
or Afet Inan
Afet Inan
Ayşe Afet İnan was a Turkish historian and sociologist. She was one of the adopted daughters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk....
of the Republican Era are more appropriate to adorn a banknote with Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
's portrait on the observe than is Fatma Aliye, who developed her ideas of women's rights in the context of sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
(Islamic law) and who opposed Atatürk's reforms
Atatürk's Reforms
Atatürk's Reforms were a series of political, legal, cultural, social and economic reforms that were designed to modernize the new Republic of Turkey into a democratic and secular nation-state...
.
Novels
- Muhazarat (1892) ("Useful Information")
- Hayal ve Hakikat (1894) ("Dream And Truth")
- Raf'et (1898)
- Udi (1899) ("The Lute Player")
- Enin (1910) ("Groaning")
- Levaih-i Hayat ("Scenes from Life")
Essays
- Namdaran-ı Zenan-ı İslamıyan (1895) ("Famous Muslim Women")
- Osmanlıda Kadın: "Cariyelik, Çokeşlilik, Moda" (1895) ("Women in the Ottoman Empire: 'Odalisque, Polygamy, Fashion'")
- With Mahmud Esad, Taaddüd-i Zevcat ("Polygamy")
- Nisvan-ı İslam (1896) ("Women of Islam") French translation Les femmes muselmannes
- Teracim-i Ahval-ı Felasife (1900) ("Biographies of Philosophers") (2006) Çizgi Kitabevi, Konya. Reprint. 153 pages ISBN 975-8867-84-9
- Tedkik-i Ecsam (1901) ("Research on Objects")
- Ahmed Cevdet Paşa ve Zamanı (1914) ("Ahmet Cevdet Pasha And His Time")
- Kosova Zaferi / Ankara Hezimeti: Tarih-i Osmaninin Bir Devre-i Mühimmesi (1915) ("Victory in KosovoBattle of KosovoThe Battle of Kosovo took place on St. Vitus' Day, June 15, 1389, between the army led by Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Sultan Murad I...
/ Defeat in AnkaraBattle of AnkaraThe Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on July 20, 1402, took place at the field of Çubuk between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for...
: An Important Era of the Ottoman History")