Fahire Battalgil (1902 - 1948) was a Turkish ichthyologist who was one of the first women to be appointed as a professor at a university in Turkey.
Name
Battalgil was known as Fahire Akim Hanim during the early part of her life. The surname Battalgil was adopted by her family to comply with the
Republic of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
's 1934
Surname Law and the spelling of this was changed to Battalgazi from 1943.
Early life
Fahire Akim Hanim was born in Istanbul in 1902, she attended the French school of Notre Dame de Sion in
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
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, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
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, ...
where her father, Dr Etem Akif Bey, had attended. Her secondary school was the Bezmi Alem High School from where she graduated in 1924. She graduated from the
Darülfünun
, image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg
, image_size = 200px
, latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis
, motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü
, mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future
, established = 1453 1846 1933
...
in 1926 with a qualification in Natural Science.
Career
From April 1926 to October 1927 Fahire Akim Hanim had a position at the Tercan Vocational School, now part of
Erzincan University
Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is ...
where she was assigned to the Faculty of Science on 1 June 1927, being appointed as an assistant in the Institute of Zoology in August 1927. In 1931-32 she went to study at the
Sorbonne in Paris in the Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. In 1933, following the reform of Turkish universities, she was appointed as an Associate Professor of Zoology at the University of Istanbul. In November 1935 she participated in an expedition organised by the Fisheries Institute, and many such thereafter. With her colleague Suat Nigar she translated the lectures of Professor Andre Naville and after his sudden death in 1937 she took those lectures herself. In 1937 she became a full Associate Professor, under the German Zoologist
Curt Kosswig
Dr. Curt Kosswig (sometimes spelled "Koßwig") (30 October 1903, Berlin – 29 March 1982, Hamburg) was a German zoologist and geneticist who spent most of his career at the University of Istanbul (1937–1955) and Hamburg University (1955–19 ...
, and in 1944 she became a full professor. She was Turkey's first zoology doctor and first zoology professor. She died on 20 February 1948 in Istanbul and is buried in a family plot in a cemetery in
BeÅŸiktaÅŸ
Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...
.
Legacy
Battalgil was an important figure in Turkish ichthyology discovering a number of new species for Turkey and
describing a number of new species of fish to science. Examples include ''
Alburnus adanensis'', ''
Barbus oligolepis'', ''
Pseudophoxinus caralis'' and ''
Squalius cephaloides
The thick lipped chub (''Squalius cephaloides'') is a species of cyprinid fish known only from the Armutlu Peninsula in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a li ...
''. Species named in honour of Battalgil include ''
Cobitis fahireae
''Cobitis fahireae'' is a species of loach endemic to Turkey where it occurs in intermittent river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a rive ...
'', ''
Phoxinellus fahirae
''Phoxinellus'' is a genus of cyprinid fishes found in the Balkans. There are currently three described species in this genus.
Species
* '' Phoxinellus alepidotus'' Heckel, 1843
* ''Phoxinellus dalmaticus
''Phoxinellus dalmaticus'' is a s ...
'' and ''
Alburnus battalgilae
The Gediz shemaya (''Alburnus battalgilae'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Alburnus''. It is endemic to the Gediz River and Koca River drainages in Turkey. It is threatened by water extraction and agricultural pollution
Agr ...
''.
Publications
This is an incomplete list of publications:
*1940 Eine neue Cyprinidenart
eni bir Cyprinid nev'i Revue de la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université d'Istanbul, Série B: Sciences Naturelles, 5 (1-2): 74-77 (1-4).
*1941 Les poissons des eaux douces de la Turquie
ürkiye'nin tatlısu balıkları Revue de la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université d'Istanbul, Série B: Sciences Naturelles, 6 (1-2): 170–186.
*1944. Türkiye'de yeni tath su bahklari. Nouveau poissons des eaux douces de la Turquie. ''Revue de la Faculté des Sciences de l'Université d'Instanbul, Série B: Sciences Naturelles,'' 9(2)
943 126–133
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battalgil, Fahire
1902 births
1948 deaths
Turkish zoologists
Ichthyologists
Women ichthyologists
Turkish women scientists
20th-century zoologists