Emine Mebrure Aksoley (10 August 1902 – 2 March 1984) was a Turkish educator, philanthropist, politician, women's rights activist, member of parliament, and senator.

Early life, education, and family

Emine Mebrure was born on 10 August 1902, daughter to Turkish parents Halit Sezai (Güran), a retired major of the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

Corps of Engineers, and his spouse Fatma in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. She lived in Thessaloniki until the outbreak of

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

in 1912. The family moved then to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, and she lived in

Bandırma Bandırma ()Greek: Panormos(Πανορμος)is a municipality and district of Balıkesir Province, northwestern Turkey. Its area is 755 km2, and its population is 167,363 (2024). Bandırma is located in the south of the Marmara Sea, in the ...

and

Alaşehir Alaşehir () is a municipality and district of Manisa Province, Turkey. Its area is 971 km2, and its population is 104,717 (2022). It is situated in the valley of the Kuzuçay ( Cogamus in antiquity), at the foot of the Bozdağ Mountain ( Moun ...

due to her father's duty in the military right after the beginning of World War I. She completed elementary school in Bandırma and middle school at İzmir High School for Girls. She completed her secondary education at Üsküdar Çamlıca High School for Girls in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. The family settled in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

when her father joined the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

(1919–1922). In 1923, she married Ahmet İhsan (Aksoley) (1899–1975), who would be an engineer and officer of the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

and retired as a

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

. Due to her husband's

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

abroad, she lived a long time in Germany, and also spent some time in France, England, and Hungary. She conducted research on social institutions during her stay in Germany. After returning home, she attended Ankara University Law School and graduated with distinction in 1938. She started a career as an educator, opening a private elementary school in Çankaya district of Ankara.

Social activist

In 1938, she entered the "Village Affairs" branch at Ankara

Halkevi Halkevleri (Turkish: ''Halkevi'' literally meaning "people's houses", also translatable as "community centres") is a Turkish community enlightenment project. They were founded in 1932 and entirely abolished in 1951. Background The Turkish Repub ...

. The next year, she collaborated with the relief committee for the victims of the

1939 Erzincan earthquake An earthquake struck Turkey's eastern Erzincan Province at with a moment magnitude () of 7.8 and maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (''Extreme''). It is tied with the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes as the most powerful earthquake in Turkey to ...

. Between 1940 and 1941, Aksolay was a member of the "Yardımseverler Cemiyeti" ("Philanthropists Association"), and served as its secretary general and vice chairperson. Aksoley was among the founders of the "Türk Kadınlar Birliği" ("Turkish Women's Union") during its re-establishment on 13 April 1949. The organization had been founded on 7 February 1924, but dissolved itself after the

1935 Turkish general election General elections were held in Turkey on 8 February 1935.Myron E. Weiner, Ergun Özbudun (1987) ''Competitive Elections in Developing Countries'', Duke University Press, p337 The Republican People's Party was the only party in the country at the ...

when they were satisfied with the swearing-in of 18 women politicians in the parliament. Between 1949 and 1951, Aksoley served as the chairperson of the organization.

Politician

Aksoley entered politics in 1928 as a member of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP). She served as a Deputy of Ankara in two terms, the

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

(1943–1946) and the 8th parliament (1946–1950), of the

Turkish Grand National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

(TBMM). During her membership, she served on several parliamentary committees. After her tenure in the TBMM, Aksoley took charge of several administrative posts in the CHP, and continued her involvement in social activities. In 1961, Aksoley was appointed to the

Constituent Assembly of Turkey The Constituent Assembly of Turkey (), also called the Chamber of Deputies, existed from 6 January 1961 to 24 October 1961. It was established by the military rule of 1960 Turkish coup d'état. About half of the members were appointed by the milita ...

, established by the military rule of

1960 Turkish coup d'état The 1960 Turkish coup d'état (), also known as the 27 May Revolution ( or ''27 Mayıs Devrimi''), was the first coup d'état in the Republic of Turkey. It took place on 27 May 1960. The coup was staged by a group of 38 young Turkish military ...

, representing CHP. She was elected to the Senate of the Republic as a Deputy of Istanbul from CHP at the 1/3 Senate renewal after the 1964 Turkish Senate election, and served at this post until 1973. She was part of the parliamentary delegation that officially visited Yugoslavia in September 1967.

Writer

Aksoley wrote articles defending

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and Atatürk's principles in the CHP-owned newspaper ''

Ulus Ulus may refer to: Places * Ulus, Bartın, a district in Bartin Province, Turkey * Ulus, Beşiktaş, neighborhood in Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey *Ulus, Ankara, an important quarter in central Ankara, Turkey ** Ulus (Ankara Metro), an und ...

''. In 1970, she wrote about her 42-year political career in the CHP in a book titled ''C.H.P de 42 Yıllık Çalışmalarımdan Bazı Örnekler'' (''Some Examples From My 42 Years of Work at C.H.P'').

Death

Aksoley died on 2 March 1984, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksoley, Mebrure 1902 births 1984 deaths Politicians from Thessaloniki People from Salonica vilayet Macedonian Turks Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 7th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 8th Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Ankara Members of the Constituent Assembly of Turkey Members of the Senate of the Republic (Turkey) Ulus (newspaper) people Turkish schoolteachers Turkish philanthropists Turkish women philanthropists 20th-century Turkish women politicians Turkish women's rights activists Ankara University Faculty of Law alumni