Mustafa Kemal Atatürk facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha (until 1934) Kemal Atatürk (since 1934)


1st President of Turkey
In office 29 October 1923 – 10 November 1938
Prime Minister	İsmet İnönü Fethi Okyar Celâl Bayar
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	İsmet İnönü
1st Prime Minister of the Government of the Grand National Assembly
In office 3 May 1920 – 24 January 1921
Deputy	Fevzi Çakmak
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Fevzi Çakmak
1st Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
In office 24 April 1920 – 29 October 1923
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Fethi Okyar
1st Leader of the Republican People's Party
In office 9 September 1923 – 10 November 1938
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	İsmet İnönü

Personal details
Born	Ali Rıza oğlu Mustafa (Mustafa son of Ali Rıza) 1881 Salonica, Ottoman Macedonia, Ottoman Empire (now Thessaloniki, Greece)
Died	10 November 1938(1938-11-10) (aged 57) Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul, Turkey
Resting place	Ethnography Museum, Ankara (21 November 1938 – 10 November 1953) Anıtkabir, Ankara (from 10 November 1953)
Nationality	Turkish
Political party	Republican People's Party
Other political affiliations	Motherland and Liberty Committee of Union and Progress (He left it.) Association for the Defense of the Rights of Anatolia and Rumelia (Republican People's Party after 1923.)
Spouse	Latife Uşaklıgil (1923–25)
Parents	Ali Rıza Efendi Zübeyde Hanım
Relatives	Makbule Atadan (sister)
Awards	List (24 medals)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire (1893–1919) Ankara Government (1920–1923) Turkey (1923–1927)
Branch/service	Ottoman Army Turkish Army
Rank	Major General (Ottoman Army) Marshal (Turkish Army)
Commands	19th Division 16th Corps 2nd Army 7th Army Yildirim Army Group Army of the Grand National Assembly
Battles/wars	List Italo-Turkish War Tobruk Derna Balkan Wars Bulair Adrianople II World War I Anzac Cove Baby 700 No.3 Post Nek Chunuk Bair Scimitar Hill Hill 60 Suvla Bay Sari Bair Bitlis Southern Palestine Transjordan III Nablus Megiddo Jisr ed Damieh Samakh Damascus Jisr Benat Yakub Kiswe Kaukab Pursuit to Haritan Khan Ayash Aleppo Charge at Haritan Greco-Turkish War Sakarya Great Offensive
Graphical timeline Detailed chronology

Kemal Atatürk (or alternatively written as Kamâl Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1934, commonly referred to as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and statesman who became the first President of Turkey from 1923 until his death in 1938. He is known for being a leader who freed his people from being controlled by other countries and later for starting changes that founded Turkish nation state based on social and economic nationalism, more modern and similar to Western civilization, mainly France (such as the French model of secularism called laïcité).

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born under the name Mustafa in 1881. His birth place was in Salonika, Macedonia (now Thessaloniki, Greece). Salonika was part of the Ottoman Empire at that time. He took the name Kemal as a schoolboy and Atatürk (which means Father-Turk) when he was president. His father's name was Ali Rıza Efendi. His mother's name was Zübeyde Hanım. He also had a sister whose name was Makbule (Atadan). He became an army officer and the most successful general officer of the empire in World War I, fighting in Gallipoli.

When the Ottoman Empire was ended after the war, Atatürk organized a nationalist movement that created the new, secular, Republic of Turkey. This meant that the country's government was no longer led by hereditary or religious leaders. Visitors to Turkey are often surprised by the importance given to Atatürk in present-day Turkey.

Few countries have such a person in their history. He was a successful military commander, and later established a democratic constitution and put in place changes that set Turkey on the road to becoming a new and developing nation. He inspired many later leaders like Habib Bourguiba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Sukarno, and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

His six principles still serve today as a sign post for establishing a democratic government:

Republicanism: Replacing the hereditary monarchy with an elected parliament.
Nationalism: Citizens working together with pride in a common interest.
Laicism: Separating religion from government. It is the guarantee of freedom of religion and conscience in society.
Populism: The equality of all citizens before the law.
Etatism: An economic system combining private enterprise with government-funded monopolies of large industries
Revolutionism: The basis of the other 5 principles. According to the needs of the society, innovations required by the age and science are made as soon as possible.

Images for kids

The house where Atatürk was born in the Ottoman city of Salonika (Thessaloniki in present-day Greece), now a museum
The reconstructed house of Atatürk's paternal grandparents, in the Ottoman village of Kocacık (Kodžadžik in present-day North Macedonia)
Atatürk on the day of graduation from the War Academy in 1905
Atatürk (front row, second from left) with the Ottoman Turkish observers at the Picardie army manoeuvres in France, 28 September 1910
Atatürk (left) with an Ottoman military officer and Bedouin forces in Derna, Tripolitania Vilayet, 1912
Cevat Pasha and Atatürk on the daily Tasvîr-i Efkâr [tr] dated 29 October 1915
Atatürk with Ottoman military officers during the Battle of Gallipoli, Çanakkale, 1915
Atatürk in 1918, the Commander of the Yıldırım Army Group and an Honorary aide-de-camp of the Sultan
Atatürk (right) in Angora (Ankara) with İsmet Pasha (left)
Prominent nationalists at the Sivas Congress, left to right: Muzaffer (Kılıç), Rauf (Orbay), Bekir Sami (Kunduh), Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), Ruşen Eşref (Ünaydın), Cemil Cahit (Toydemir), Cevat Abbas (Gürer)
Atatürk inspects the Turkish troops on 18 June 1922
A British cartoon of 1923 satirising Atatürk's rule in Turkey
Atatürk at the opening ceremony of the Samsun-Çarşamba railroad (1928)
Atatürk in 1923, with members of the Mevlevi Order, before its institutional expression became illegal and their dervish lodge was changed into the Mevlana Museum. The Mevlevi Order managed to transform itself into a non-political organization which still exists.
In 1924, during his speech in Bursa
Atatürk during the Republic Day celebrations on the second anniversary of the Turkish Republic, 29 October 1925.
Atatürk with his Panama hat just after the Kastamonu speech in 1925
Atatürk is greeted by marines in Büyükada (14 July 1927)
Atatürk at the library of the Çankaya Presidential Residence in Ankara, on 16 July 1929
Atatürk attending a class at the Law School of the Istanbul House of Multiple Sciences in 1930
Atatürk introducing the new Turkish alphabet to the people of Kayseri on 20 September 1928
In 1930, leaving the parliament after the 7th-year celebration meeting.
Atatürk with the Liberal Republican Party leader Fethi Okyar and his daughter in Yalova, on 13 August 1930
In 1931, during the establishment ceremony of the Turkish History Institution. Atatürk is standing with Afet İnan (on his left) and Yusuf Akçura (first from the left).
Atatürk at the opening of the Türkkuşu flight school in Etimesgut on 3 May 1935
Eighteen female MPs joined the Turkish Parliament with the 1935 general elections.
Atatürk with King Amānullāh Khān of Afghanistan in Ankara, 1928. King Amānullāh attempted to emulate many of Atatürk's reforms in Afghanistan, but was overthrown.
Atatürk in the days of the Mosul question, 1925
During a reception at the USSR Embassy in Ankara, on 7 November 1927
Exchanges on the concept of a Balkan Federation during the visit of Voroshilov, a vision of Atatürk's which was never achieved
Atatürk (right) with Reza Shah Pahlavi (left) of Iran, during the Shah's visit to Turkey
Atatürk observes the Turkish troops during the military exercise on 28 May 1936
During the visit of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1931
Telegram sent by Atatürk after the local legislative assembly accepted his proposal for the Hatay State's flag
Atatürk and Celâl Bayar visiting the Sümerbank Nazilli Cotton Factory, which was established as a part of the cotton-related industry
Atatürk supported large-scale government subsidized industrial complexes, such as Sümerbank, increasingly after the Great Depression.
Atatürk and İsmet İnönü at Nazilli Cotton Factory (1937)
Kemal Atatürk and his wife Latife Uşakizâde during a trip to Bursa, 1924
A view from the state funeral of Atatürk, November 1938
Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Atatürk in Ankara, is visited by large crowds every year during national holidays such as Republic Day on October 29.
Associated Press news article about the admiration of women from different parts of the world for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the handsome leader of the Turkish Republic.
Atatürk memorial on Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City
Statue of Atatürk in Ankara

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk facts for kids

Images for kids

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