Semra Sezer (née Kürümoğlu; born August 16, 1944) was the First Lady of Turkey from May 2000 until August 2007 during the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

of her husband

Ahmet Necdet Sezer Ahmet Necdet Sezer (; born 13 September 1941) is a Turkish statesman and judge who served as the tenth president of Turkey from 2000 to 2007. Previously, he was president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey from January 1998 to May 2000. The ...

. She was born on August 16, 1944, in

Yenimahalle Yenimahalle is a municipality and metropolitan district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 219 km2, and its population is 704,652 (2022). It is a fast-growing urban residential district of the city of Ankara, Turkey's capital. Its elev ...

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 ( ...

to the family of a bank officer, Kemal Kürümoğlu. She completed her secondary education in 1962 at the Yenimahalle High School in Ankara. She met her husband Ahmet Necdet Sezer during her student time at the Law School of Ankara University. The couple were engaged in 1962. She then left the Law School in her second year, and attended the Atatürk Teachers' School for Primary Education in

to become a teacher. After the completion of her fiancé's military service, the couple married in 1964 and moved to

Dicle Dicle (, ) is a municipality and district of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey. Its area is 738 km2, and its population is 36,114 (2022). It is populated by Zaza Kurds. The mayor is Felat Aygören from the HDP. Dicle is the Zaza Language and T ...

town in

Diyarbakır Province Diyarbakır Province (; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. Its area is 15,101 km2, and its population is 1,804,880 (2022). The provincial capital is the city of Diyarbakır. The Kurdish majority province ...

, where her husband was appointed as a judge. In 1966, she mothered their first child, a daughter named Zeynep. Later, the family moved to

Yerköy Yerköy is a town in Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yerköy District.

Yozgat Province Yozgat Province () is a province in central Turkey. Its area is 13,690 km2, and its population is 418,442 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are Çorum to the northwest, Kırıkkale to the west, Kırşehir to the southwest, Nevşehir to the s ...

due to Ahmet Necdet Sezer's next appointment. In Yerköy, the twins, daughter Ebru and son Levent, were born. In 1975, the family finally moved to Ankara, where they lived from then on. Following her service of more than 30 years, Semra Sezer attended Faculty of Education at the

Hacettepe University Hacettepe University () is a public research university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2021. The university has two main c ...

graduating in 1996 with a bachelor's degree. She became a grandmother through the birth of her oldest daughter, Zeynep's baby in 1998. Semra Sezer served as a teacher for primary school in Dicle, Yerköy and Ankara until her retirement on January 28, 2000. Semra Sezer is known for her modest way of life adequate to her husband's. She did not color her gray hair, paint her nails or wear jewelry. During her time as the first lady, she also avoided the media. Once, she lined up for physical examination in the hospital that is not usual. Semra Sezer lives with her husband in

Gölbaşı, Ankara Gölbaşı is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,364 km2, and its population is 150,047 (2022). It is south of the city of Ankara. Its elevation is . The district includes the Lake Moga ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sezer, Semra 1944 births People from Ankara Living people Turkish schoolteachers First ladies of Turkey