Fikriye Hanım or Zeynep Fikriye Özdinçer, who was registered after her death; During the War of Independence, he was known for his services at the headquarters of the National Struggle in Ankara. She is also known for her relationship with Mustafa Kemal Pasha. She has been involved in the National Forces Movement since November 1920. He was responsible for the general layout of the Steering Building, which was the headquarters of the National Struggle, and the Çankaya Mansion, where he later moved. She was also a relative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s stepfather and is known as the “first lady of Çankaya”.
Fikriye Hanım’s love for Mustafa Kemal, the mysteries of her life and death, has been a source of inspiration for research and fiction. Although Mustafa Kemal’s marriage to Latife Hanım is known, Fikriye Hanım’s love for Atatürk is of a different nature. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said the following words about this love: “Two women loved me very much; one for me alone, the other for my position.” This statement emphasizes how special and different Fikriye Hanım’s feelings were for Atatürk.
Written by Halil İbrahim Özcan, the book “The Idea of Çankaya’s Bride Without Veil” tells the story of a hopeless love that started in Thessaloniki and extended to Ankara, which has not been illuminated for a century. The book deals with Fikriye Hanım’s deep love for Atatürk and the difficulties he faced. While Fikriye Hanım’s love for Atatürk is described in a passionate way, Atatürk’s fate and life filled with difficulties are also included in the book.
The Life of Fikriye Hanım
There is no consensus among historians regarding the exact information about Fikriye Hanım’s life. There are contradictions among different sources regarding the date of birth; While it is stated as 1887 in some sources, it is stated as 1897 in other sources. It is known that Fikriye Hanım has an older brother named Ali Enver, an older sister named Emine Melahat and a sister named Jülide.
Fikriye Hanım, who is the niece of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s step-father Ragıp Bey, has a kinship with Atatürk. His father is Memduh Hayrettin Bey (Ragıp Bey’s older brother) and his mother is Vasfiye Hanım. Fikriye Hanım was brought up in western culture and learned French and Greek languages. She learned to play the piano by taking private lessons and learned to play the oud from her mother, Vasfiye Hanım.
His family immigrated to Thessaloniki after the Thessaly War and moved to Istanbul after Thessaloniki was occupied during the Balkan Wars. While living in Istanbul, he lost his family members one by one. After losing her parents, she lived in Heybeliada with her sister Jülide. After she lost Jülide to tuberculosis, she lived in the house of her friend Memduha Hanım in Sultanahmet.
Mrs. Fikriye; She lived with her mother, Zübeyde Hanım, and her sister Makbule Hanım, in the house that Mustafa Kemal rented in Istanbul in 1912 and helped with the housework. She helped organize the house by frequently visiting the house in Şişli, which Mustafa Kemal rented after his return from the Syrian front in 1918. It is known that Fikriye Hanım, who has a fragile structure, is not immune to diseases.
Mentioning Fikriye Hanım as “Çankaya’s First Bride”
Fikriye Hanım got to know Mustafa Kemal for the first time when she was eight years old. He had a great admiration for her and fell in love with her over time. After Zübeyde Hanım moved to Istanbul, Fikriye Hanım started to meet with Mustafa Kemal more frequently. Their relationship generally progressed as a brother-sister relationship. Idea for Mustafa Kemal; the daughter of a distant relative is a child. However, Fikriye, who fell in love from the first moment he saw her, first calls him elder brother, but then he does not speak. While she is at the front, she lives with her dreams, writes letters and poems. When a woman’s hand to gather Mustafa Kemal is needed, she almost runs to Ankara.
the government of Istanbul; On April 11, a death sentence was issued for Mustafa Kemal and his friends, who started the National Struggle against the occupation of Anatolia. Thereupon, they decided to leave Istanbul and go to Ankara. Fikriye Hanım, who saw Atatürk’s death warrant in a newspaper, wants to reach Mustafa Kemal. After getting permission from Ankara, he took the ferry from Karadeniz Ereğlisi and reached İnebolu on 13 November 1920. Together with Mithat Bey, one of Mustafa Kemal’s close friends, they reach Ankara after a difficult journey. When Atatürk sees Fikriye Hanım in front of him, he experiences a mixture of surprise and joy. “How was your journey? You must have suffered a lot, but the heart doesn’t listen to edicts, does it?” he asks.
Fikriye Hanım, who settled in the house known as the “Steering Wheel Building”, which was used as the center of the National Struggle in Ankara, undertakes the duties of maintaining the general order of the house where Mustafa Kemal and his aides lived, and managing the kitchen. He stayed in the Steering Building for about a year and a half, and later moved to the vineyard house in Çankaya and started living there.
The fact that Fikriye Hanım and Mustafa Kemal lived under the same roof, although they were not married, caused some gossip in the society at that time. It leads to Fikriye Hanım being accepted as Atatürk’s wife and being referred to as “Çankaya’s first bride”. In some sources, there is information that Fikriye Hanım and Mustafa Kemal Pasha got married silently and secretly in order to prevent these gossip, and their marriage was performed by the Deputy of the Shari’ah and Evkaf, Mustafa Fehmi Bey. However, a consensus has not been reached among historians on this issue and there is no definite information. For this reason, it is still controversial whether the relationship between Fikriye Hanım and Mustafa Kemal has reached the level of marriage.
Atatürk’s Marriage to Latife Hanım
The mansion, which was chosen by Atatürk and his comrades in İzmir to work during the occupation of İzmir, belongs to the family of Latife Hanım. This situation marked the beginning of difficult separations for Ms. Fikriye. Latife Hanım is a highly educated, intellectual and intelligent woman who grew up in western culture, speaks English and French. As soon as Zübeyde Hanım saw Latife, she believed that she was the most suitable bride for Mustafa Kemal.
While these situations are happening in İzmir, news comes from Ankara that Fikriye is sick. The doctor’s diagnosis is that Fikriye has come to this situation due to her sensitive nature and her dedication to the mansion and her constant work. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and Atatürk sent him to Germany so that Fikriye could receive the best treatment. While Fikriye was in Germany, the news that Zübeyde Hanım passed away in Latife Hanım’s mansion spread throughout the country. Zübeyde Hanım’s last wish was for her son Mustafa Kemal to marry Latife Hanım, and Atatürk fulfilled this request.
Meanwhile, the news that Mustafa Kemal got married, both in the country and in various parts of the world, found wide coverage in the newspapers. Fikriye Hanım, who learned that Mustafa Kemal Pasha married Latife Hanım, returned to Istanbul in March 1923 and wanted to move to Ankara. However, while Fikriye Hanım’s request to come to Ankara was conveyed by Doctor Adnan Bey’s telegram dated 6 March 1923, it was stated that it would be appropriate to prevent Mustafa Kemal from coming to Ankara without his permission.
“Have you seen a lot of your servant, a namey-i nesretmey-i,
Broken heart wanted to paint you with a brush,
My only wish is to see you for a little while when I say goodbye to life,
I don’t know if God will grant me to die in the aguhu”
(Ms. Fikriye)
Is Fikriye Hanım’s Death Suicide or Murder?
While Mustafa Kemal was traveling in Anatolia with his wife, Latife Hanım, Fikriye Hanım stayed at a relative’s house in Istanbul for a short time. Later, she went to Gallipoli and stayed at the house of Governor Mecit Bey for about a year. In May 1924 she went from Gallipoli to Istanbul and then to Ankara she. She met Latife Hanım at the Çankaya Mansion and after staying at the mansion for three days, she left to return to Istanbul. She started to stay in Karaoğlan Hotel.
On May 21, 1924, Fikriye Hanım came to Çankaya Mansion for the last time by carriage and was wounded with a gun in front of the mansion. She was rushed to the hospital and died on May 30, 1924 at the Hometown Hospital she. The issue of how Fikriye Hanım’s death happened, whether it was a suicide or a murder has been discussed intensively. However, there is no consensus among researchers.
Various rumors are circulating on this subject. According to the first rumor; Fikriye Hanım was received negatively at the Çankaya Mansion and she committed suicide because she could not accept this situation. According to the second rumor; Fikriye Hanım was shot by another person while she was about to leave the mansion. However, according to Salih Bozok’s notes, this was not the truth. When Fikriye Hanım came to the mansion, she introduced herself, claiming that she was a relative of Atatürk, and was taken inside. She was so tired because of her illness and the difficult journey that she couldn’t even get out of bed the next day. The next day, Latife Hanım told the servants of the house that Fikriye Hanım had to leave the house. Fikriye settled in a hotel, collapsed from illness. Salih Bozok wrote in his notes that Atatürk did not object to this decision, but that his relations with Latife Hanım deteriorated after that.
After the night at the hotel, Fikriye Hanım got up with difficulty, prepared herself and set out for the Çankaya Mansion. When She arrived at the mansion, she stated that she was a relative of Atatürk and that this visit was a farewell visit. In this situation, which resulted in a sad event, Fikriye was not allowed to enter the mansion, as the news first reached Latife Hanım. Fikriye started to get away silently by getting on the phaeton and committed suicide by using the gun given to her by Atatürk. She was rushed to the hospital, but she could not be saved and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Location of Fikriye Hanım’s Grave
The exact location of Fikriye Hanım’s grave is unknown. Different researchers and authors have suggested different locations. Eris Ulger; Based on the memories of Salih Bozok, Atatürk’s aide, he states that Fikriye Hanım’s grave is in Kuğulu Park. Fatih Bayhan, in his book titled “Fikriye Hanım”, states that Fikriye Hanım lay in the old cemetery in Ankara’s Ulus district, on the area where the banks are located today. Can Dundar; He wrote that he was buried at the place where a giant statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on a horse rises in the Ankara Ethnography Museum.
However, according to Salih Bozok’s notes, Atatürk said that the body should be taken from the hospital and buried in the old cemetery in the direction of Cebeci and no one would know about it. 5-6 weeks after Fikriye Hanım’s death, Atatürk wanted to visit Fikriye Hanım’s grave while traveling in the carriage with Salih Bozok. While saying goodbye, he left the white silk handkerchief in his pocket on Fikriye Hanım’s grave. This is the first and last time Atatürk visited Fikriye Hanım’s grave.
Lines Written by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to Fikriye Hanım;
“Even if I drink a glass of elixir of life,
I left untimely, let it be known Fikriye.
I’m not tired of your delicate hands,
My hope-i love will surround you with your long-suffering skin”
