Mahmut Sadi Irmak (May 15, 1904,

Seydişehir Seydişehir is a town and district of Konya Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. According to a 2000 census, the population of the district is 85,456 of which 48,372 live in the town of Seydişehir. History Seydişehir has an extensive ...

– November 11, 1990, Istanbul) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

academic in physiology, politician and former

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı'') was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of ...

Biography

He was born in the town

of Konya, Ottoman Empire in 1904. He became teacher for biology after finishing the college in Konya. However, he quit his job the same year and attended the Law School at

Istanbul University , 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 ...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

wanted to send 50 of his students abroad for a good education in 1925. A test was held for this throughout Turkey. Sadi was among those who took the exam and was chosen. When Sadi got on the train, he refused to go. Just then, a telegram arrived. Sadi read Atatürk's words: I send you as a spark, you should return as a flame. That words affected Sadi. And he decided to go again. He went to Germany on a state granted scholarship to study biology and medicine. He graduated from the University of Berlin in 1929 with a degree in medicine. After completing his study, Sadi Irmak worked as an assistant physician in hospitals in

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

and Düsseldorf, Germany. Irmak was fascinated by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

and was a prominent proponent of eugenics. Returned to Turkey, he worked as a government physician and teacher for biology. In 1932, he became a lecturer at the School of Medicine of Istanbul University, and in 1939, he was promoted to full professor for physiology.

Political career

Sadi Irmak entered politics in 1943 as deputy of Konya. Between June 7, 1945 and August 5, 1946, he served as Minister of Labor in the cabinet of Şükrü Saracoğlu. He returned to the faculty, however, in 1950, to lecture first in Munich, Germany and then in Istanbul again. In 1974, he was admitted to the Senate. The same year, Sadi Irmak was commissioned by President Fahri Korutürk to form the

38th government of Turkey The 38th government of Turkey (November 17, 1974 – March 31, 1975) was a caretaker government of Turkey led by Sadi Irmak, an independent member of the Turkish senate Senate of the Republic ( tr, Cumhuriyet Senatosu) was the upper house of Turk ...

. The caretaker government under his prime ministry lasted from November 17, 1974 until his resignation on March 31, 1975 due to a vote of no confidence in the parliament. After the military coup on September 12, 1980, he was elected to the Consultative Assembly. He acted as its speaker from October 27, 1981 until December 4, 1983. Sadi Irmak died on November 11, 1990 in Istanbul, and was buried at the Aşiyan Asri Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and two children. His daughter, Prof. Yakut Irmak Özden, is director of the Institute for Atatürk's Ideology and History of His Reforms at Istanbul University.School of Communications at Istanbul University

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Irmak, Sadi 1904 births 1990 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Turkey People from Seydişehir Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Darülfünun alumni Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni Academic staff of Gazi Eğitim Enstitüsü Academic staff of Istanbul University Prime Ministers of Turkey Ministers of Labour and Social Security of Turkey Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey Turkish physiologists Burials at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery Members of the 38th government of Turkey Members of the 14th government of Turkey Members of the 15th government of Turkey