Süreyya Ağaoğlu (1903 – 29 December 1989) was a Turkish- Azerbaijani writer, jurist, and the first female

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Turkish history The history of Turkey, understood as the history of the area now forming the territory of the Republic of Turkey, includes the history of both Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey) and Eastern Thrace (the European part of Turkey). These two prev ...

.Ghada Talhami.
Historical Dictionary of Women in the Middle East and North Africa
'. Scarecrow Press; 19 December 2012. . p. 355–.Fahri Sakal.
Ağaoğlu Ahmed Bey
'. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi; 1999. . p. 13, 47, 62.

Early life and education

Ağaoğlu was the daughter of

Ahmet Ağaoğlu Ahmet Ağaoğlu, also known as Ahmet Bey Ağaoğlu (; or Ahmet Akif Agaoglu (December 1869, Shusha – May 19, 1939, Istanbul) was a public and political figure of Azerbaijan and Turkey, thinker, publicist, educator, writer, Turkologist, and ...

, a prominent

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i and later Turkish politician of the early 20th century.İbrahim Sarı.
Türk Tarihinde Kadın: Türklerde Kadın Baş Tacıydı…
'. noktaekitap; 1 March 2018. GGKEY:9RDRN2BTDSL. p. 93–. After the fall of the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

in 1920, the Ağaoğlus moved to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

where Süreyya enrolled in the Faculty of Law at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

.Bekir Bakan.
Türkiye'deki Kadın Hak İhlalleri
'. Cinius Yayınları; 1 June 2012. . p. 148–.

Career

After graduation Ağaoğlu worked as a lawyer from 1927 to her death in 1989. In 1928, taking the free lawyer license and became Turkey's first female lawyer. For her initiative, Istanbul Bar Association was elected a member of the International Bar Association. From 1946 to 1960, she was the only female board member of this union. After

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 ...

she became his brother's lawyer. At that time, he entered politics as a member of the newly formed New Turkey Party and became the party's leader in At one point she worked as an assistant to Professor Schwartz and Türkan Rado.Çi?dem Borchers.
Frauenstudium und Hochschulkarrieren in der Türkei: Historische Entwicklungen vom 19. Jahrhundert bis heute mit vergleichendem Blick auf Deutschland
'. Waxmann Verlag; 2013. . p. 331–. She is the author of books ''What I Saw in London'' (''Londra'da Gördüklerim'') and ''One Life Has Passed Just Like This'' (''Bir Hayat Böyle Geçti''), where she discussed many legal issues and wrote biographical information about her father.Ufuk Özcan.
Ahmet Ağaoğlu ve rol değişikliği: yüzyıl dönümünde batıcı bir aydın
'. Donkişot Yayınları; 2002. . p. ?. She was one of the contributors to the women's magazine '' Kadın Gazetesi''.

Personal life

She married German lawyer Werner Taschenbreker in 1950 and divorced in the 1960s. They had no children.

Family

Her father Ahmet Ağaoğlu was a prominent Azerbaijani and naturalized Turkish politician, publicist and journalist. He was one of the founders of Pan-Turkism. Her sister Tezer Taşkıran was a writer, politician and teacher. Her brother Samet Ağaoğlu was a poet and politician.

Death

Süreyya Ağaoğlu died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1989.

References

* Who is who database
''Biography of Süreyya Ağaoğlu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agaoglu, Sureyya 1903 births 1989 deaths Writers from Shusha People from Elizavetpol Governorate Turkish people of Azerbaijani descent Soviet emigrants to Turkey Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century Turkish lawyers Turkish women lawyers 20th-century Turkish women writers 20th-century Turkish writers Burials at Feriköy Cemetery Ağaoğlu family 20th-century women lawyers