He was born in
1881 (probably in the spring) in Salonica, then an Ottoman city, now
in Greece. His father Ali Riza, a customs official turned lumber
merchant, died when Mustafa was still a boy. His mother Zubeyde, a
devout and strong-willed woman, raised him and his sister. First
enrolled in a traditional religious school, he soon switched to a
modern school. In 1893, he entered a military high school where his
mathematics teacher gave him the second name Kemal (meaning
perfection) in recognition of young Mustafa's superior achievement. He
was thereafter known as Mustafa Kemal.
In 1905, Mustafa Kemal
graduated from the War Academy in Istanbul with the rank of Staff
Captain. Posted in Damascus, he started with several colleagues, a
clandestine society called "Homeland and Freedom" to fight
against the Sultan's despotism. In 1908 he helped the group of
officers who toppled the Sultan. Mustafa Kemal's career flourished as
he won his heroism in the far corners of the Ottoman Empire, including
Albania and Tripoli. He also briefly served as a staff officer in
Salonica and Istanbul and as a military attache in Sofia.
In 1915, when
Dardanelles campaign was launched, Colonel Mustafa Kemal became a
national hero by winning successive victories and finally repelling
the invaders. Promoted to general in 1916, at age 35, he liberated two
major provinces in eastern Turkey that year. In the next two years, he
served as commander of several Ottoman armies in Palestine, Aleppo,
and elsewhere, achieving another major victory by stopping the enemy
advance at Aleppo.
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On May 19,
1919, Mustafa Kemal Pasha landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun
to start the War of Independence. In defiance of the Sultan's
government, he rallied a liberation army in Anatolia and convened
the Congress of Erzurum and Sivas which established the basis for
the new national effort under his leadership. On April 23, 1920,
the Grand National Assembly was inaugurated. Mustafa Kemal Pasha
was elected to its Presidency.
Fighting on
many fronts, he led his forces to victory against rebels and
invading armies. Following the Turkish triumph at the two major
battles at Inonu in Western Turkey, the Grand National Assembly
conferred on Mustafa Kemal Pasha the title of Commander-in-Chief
with the rank of Marshal. At the end of August 1922, the Turkish
armies won their ultimate victory. Within a few weeks, the Turkish
mainland was completely liberated, the armistice signed, and the
rule of the Ottoman dynasty abolished.
In July 1923,
the national government signed the Lausanne Treaty with Great
Britain, France, Greece, Italy, and others. In mid-October, Ankara
became the capital of the new Turkish State. On October 29, the
Republic was proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal Pasha was unanimously
elected President of the Republic. |
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Atatürk
married Latife Usakligil in early 1923. The marriage ended in
divorce in 1925.
The account of
Atatürk's fifteen year Presidency is a saga of dramatic
modernization. With indefatigable determination, he created a new
political and legal system, abolished the Caliphate and made both
government and education secular, gave equal rights to women,
changed the alphabet and the attire, and advanced the arts and the
sciences, agriculture and industry.
In 1934, when the
surname law was adopted, the national parliament gave him the name
"Atatürk" (Father of the Turks).
On November 10,
1938, following an illness of a few months, the national liberator
and the Father of modern Turkey died. But his legacy to his people
and to the world endures. |
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