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born on June 17, 1898, in Izmir, Turkey
died on July 16, 1975, in Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish women's rights activist
50th anniversary of her death on July 16, 2025
Biography
The daughter of the wealthy, progressive merchant Ussakizade Muammer and Adviye Hanim, Latife, grew up with two sisters. She received a comprehensive, Western-oriented education, which included studies in Paris. Latife spoke several languages fluently and followed the political developments in her homeland from abroad with interest in the early 1920s. She returned to Turkey when the War of Independence was ending, and in 1923 she experienced the establishment of the Turkish Republic.
An enthusiastic patriot, she introduced herself to Turkey’s future first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, while he was staying in Izmir and invited him to take up residence in her father's house. Although the politician was already in a relationship, the two soon became lovers, and Latife tended to Atatürk's seriously ill mother until her death. On January 29, 1924, the couple married, immediately after which Atatürk's previous partner, Fikriye, committed suicide.
Latife shared her husband's views on equal rights for Turkish women. This was already evident at the wedding, which broke with tradition by inviting women to attend for the first time. Latife spoke at public events alongside Atatürk – something that had been previously unheard.
But everyday life with a living legend also had its downsides. Disputes soon arose: Atatürk, who had enacted a ban prohibiting women from wearing veils in public, was forced to accept that Latife would only appear at his side wearing a headscarf and shawl. She “allowed herself the luxury of having her own political opinion” (B. Rill) and thus sometimes found herself in opposition to her husband. In addition, Latife could not come to terms with Atatürk's – to put it mildly – unhealthy lifestyle and his womanizing.
Accustomed to getting his way, Atatürk divorced his wife under Islamic law in August 1925. Shortly thereafter, however, a law was introduced stipulating that marriages can only be dissolved by the state after the appropriate procedures were followed. Deeply disappointed, Latife Hanim retreated into a silence that was to last until her death 50 years later. She never again appeared in public and she refused all interview requests. Thanks to her father's inheritance, she was able to live a life free of material worries until she died in Istanbul at the age of 77.
(Text from 2004; translated with DeepL.com; edited by Ramona Fararo, 2025.
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