İstanbul Kadın Müzesi - Selma Emiroğlu Aykan

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Esma İbret Hanım

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Selma Emiroğlu Aykan

Turkey's first professional woman cartoonist

"At first, they wondered whether a man was behind the Selma Emiroğlu drawings."

Date of Birth: 1927

Place of Birth: Istanbul

Date of Death: 04/10/2011 2011

Place of Death: Tutzing, Germany

Burial Site: Waldfriedhof Tutzing, Germany

Topics

Gallery

Field of Activity

Cartooning

"My family and all my teachers during my school years showed interest and support for my passion for, and accomplishments in, drawing and music. When I was a child, making pictures, I sang while drawing. And later I drew my cartoons while listening to music.
When I was 13 years of age, my mother sent some of my best drawings to the period's most beloved cartoonist, Cemal Nadir Güler. In 1943, when Cemal Nadir Güler published my first drawings in a new publication, Amca Bey Mizah Magazine, my future course was set. At first, the letters coming into the magazine from readers wondered whether a man was secretly behind the Selma Emiroğlu drawings. Some people, looking me right in the eye, asked, "Is it really true, little woman, or did your big brother at home really draw these, or did your teacher help you?"
In 1945, when the Yapı ve Kredi Bankası (Bank of Construction and Credit) asked Cemal Nadir Gülen to do the drawings for the Doğan Brother Children's Magazine (Doğan Kardeş), its cultural publication, he recommended me, noting that 'this young woman is a better match for you'.
The editor of the magazine was Vedat Nedim Tör. A short time before, my first show had opened, and he himself wrote me a rave review. He welcomed me with open arms. I began to design both the front and back covers for the magazine, which began as a monthly, but later came out weekly.
I selected the subjects myself, and I also prepared the necessary captioning. The Black Cat Gang, which I created for this magazine, was all the children's favorite. My drawings in this publication were continually praised, and I was much loved. I was known initially as a child prodigy and then as the first Turkish woman cartoonist.
I follow with great joy the rapidly growing numbers of young women artists who have come into the ranks of Turkish cartoonists after me."
Selma Emiroğlu
Sources:
"Selma Emiroğlu", wikipedia.org.
İzel Rozental, "Selma Emiroğlu ile söyleşi", izelrozental.com, 2009.

Works of Selma Emiroğlu

(A Selection)

Yıldız Dağdelen; illustrations: Selma Emiroğlu Aykan, Diksiyon, İstanbul, 2011.

Selma Emiroğlu, Çizgiler ve Tınılar, Ankara Karikatür Vakfı Yayınları, 2001.

F. H. Burnett, Küçük Prenses, translation: Nihal Yalaza Taluy; illustrations: Selma Emiroğlu, İstanbul, Doğan Kardeş Yayınları, 1951 (Doğan Kardeş Çocuk Romanları 2), 8. basım 1965.

Selma Emiroğlu as Soprano

Selma Emiroğlu sang dramatic soprano roles in the Istanbul City Chorus.

Awards

1999 Ankara Cartoon Foundation, Award of Honor
2001 Ankara Cartoon Foundation, Cartoonist of the Year
2005 Fifth Cappadoccia/Urgup Cartoon Contest, First Prize

Memberships

(No information available)

Education

American Women's College (Izmir, 1940; Istanbul, 1942)

Istanbul Municipal Conservatory, Singing Department, 1953

Contributions to Society