Alphabetical

Kronolojik Order

10th century (Until the)

11th century

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

21th century

Thematic order

Searching

Seza Polar (Üçer)

Seza Polar (Üçer)

First Circassian woman editor in the Ottoman period.
"You cannot sidetrack a woman from her path"

Date of Birth: No information available

Place of Birth:

Date of Death: 20/11/1990 1990

Place of Death: Istanbul

Burial Site: Zincirlikuyu Cemetery, Istanbul

Topics

Gallery

Seza Polar (Üçer) Seza Polar (Üçer)

Field of Activity

Journalism
"The value of a civilization is proportional to the status of the women in that society. As long as women can freely exercise their natural talents, they always aid in the advancement of societies. When their roles are diminished, it causes the fall of civilizations."
Seza Polar, Diyane, 10 March 1920,
quoted in: Mahinur Tuna, "Seza Puh, Diyane Dergisi", jinepsgazetesi.com, 1.1. 2011.

Seza Polar's women's magazine Diyane (Mother of the Nation) was in Circassian and Turkish. It was first published on March 10th, 1920. Editor in chief of the magazine was Ms Hayriye Melek Hunç.

The magazine Diyane was issued twice a month as the publication of The Circassian Women's Association. It was a sociological, literary and scientific magazine. One of the first issues is in the collection of Mehmet Şevki Eygi; the other example is in the Hakki Tarik Us Collection of the Central Library Beyazıt Devlet Kütüphanesi in Istanbul.

Mahinur Tuna, who researched the history of the magazine, says that the number of issues is not known. The first issue was translated into modern Turkish by Fikri Tuna and was published in 2004.

Seza Polar as Educationist

Seza Polar was the principal of the Circassian Experimental School (Çerkes Numune Okulu) in İstanbul. She also taught geography at the same school.

The Circassian Experimental School was the first muslim school in the Ottoman Empire to practise co-education and to use the Latin alphabet. Classes were taught in Turkish and Circassian.

Awards

(No information available)

Memberships

  • Circassian Women's Support Association (Çerkes Kadınları Teavün Cemiyeti)
  • Association for the Advancement of Peasant Children (Köy Çocuklarını Yükseltme Derneği)
  • Association for the Education of Peasant Children (Köy Çocuklarını Eğitme Derneği)

Education

(No information available)

Contributions to Society

  • 1918Circassian Women's Support Association (Çerkes Kadınları Teavün Cemiyeti), founder member and treasurer
  • 1964Association for the Advancement of Peasant Children (Köy Çocuklarını Yükseltme Derneği), founder member
  • 1980Association for the Education of Peasant Children (Köy Çocuklarını Eğitme Derneği), founder member

Family and Friends

  • Mother:Melek Nazmi
  • Father:Pooh Nazmi Paşa (general)
  • Sister:Gülseren Polar
  • Brothers: Zeki Polar (author), Abdurrahman Polar
  • Husband:Hakkı Üçer (general)
  • Friends:İzzet Paşa (historian), Hayriye Melek Hunç (authoress), Makbule Berzek (Circassian Women's Support Association, founder member), Emine Reşit Zalique (Circassian Women's Support Association, founder member), Faika Hanım (Circassian Women's Support Association, founder member), Harun Blenaw Harun (pedagogue), Lami Cankat (pedagogue), Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Bülent Ecevit (politician, poet)

Commemorative Projects

Publication
Fikri Tuna (Ed.) Diyane, As Yayın, Istanbul, 2004.

Further Reading

Sources

Quoted Sources
Source of Visual Images
Translation into English: Emre Aslay, Chicago llinois, USA
Editing: Mary Waegner, Fürth, Bavaria, Germany
©2012 Meral Akkent
euro.message madebycat ®