Turkey’s First Female Doctor Hatice Safiye Ali

“Mr. President,

… I am about to take the examination they call ‘Physicum,’ which includes the following courses: Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Anatomy, Topography, Microscopy, Physiology.

… Many will participate in this exam. Among them, I am the only Turk. That is why I very much desire to be the first. If you wish, I will report the outcome of the exam.”

The owner of the letter dated July 10, 1918, addressed to Ali Haydar Bey, the Head of the Ottoman Student Inspection Committee, was Safiye Ali, a young woman studying medicine at the University of Würzburg in Germany with the support of her family. Despite facing great difficulties, she was grateful that she didn’t have to disguise herself as a man like her future colleague Agnodice from ancient Greece to receive education.

Passing that exam with the highest grade and earning the title “Doctor Candidate,” Safiye Ali was born in Istanbul in 1894. She was the fourth child of Emine Hasene Hanım, the daughter of Ali Kırat Pasha and Şeyhülharem Hacı Emin Pasha, who served as aides-de-camp to Sultan Abdülaziz and II. Abdülhamid, respectively. Her grandfather, Hacı Emin Pasha, had served as the Şeyhülislam of Mecca for 17 years and was one of the prominent figures of his time, also being the founder of five enduring endowments. Safiye Ali, the Granddaughter of the Şeyhülislam of Mecca, completed her education at the American College for Girls. With the support of her grandfather, she received private lessons. At the age of sixteen, she spoke and could read and write in seven foreign languages. The sight of wounded soldiers during the Balkan War deeply affected her. She decided to become a doctor. However, women were not admitted to medical school. With the support of the Minister of Education of the time, Ahmet Şükrü Bey, she went to Germany in 1916, during the most difficult times of the war, to receive medical education. The Germans were not very welcoming to her. After facing all kinds of difficulties, she graduated from the university with the highest honors in her final exam in 1921. Six months after returning to her homeland, she returned to Germany to pursue her specialization in the field of Obstetrics and Pediatrics.

“I do not mind eating bread scavenged from the trash at night.

What bothers me more is being here instead of in my country where there is a medical faculty.

Whatever happens, I will return to my country as a doctor.”

These lines written in her diary were verbal witnesses to her struggle under very difficult conditions.

During these years, her passion for her profession was divided in two. For a young German named Ferdinand Krekeler had captured her heart. A great love began between them. The love between them was so great that Ferdinand, who was an ophthalmologist, left aside his entire career at the university and came to Istanbul with Safiye Ali in 1923, changing his name to Ferdi and taking his wife’s surname. He was now Doctor Ferdi Ali. Safiye Ali, bearing the title of Turkey’s first female doctor, opened a clinic and placed an advertisement in the newspaper:

“Dr. Safiye Ali receives female and child patients at her clinic located at 52 Nuruosmaniye Street every day except Fridays and Sundays and in the afternoons. Istanbul 2866.”

However, breaking prejudices was not like studying medicine in Germany. Nobody trusted her because she was a woman, and those who did trust her wanted to pay only half of the examination fee because she was a woman. Safiye Ali did not charge money from financially troubled patients and treated her children in her own home. Thus, her name became more and more heard. After a while, queues began to form in front of her clinic. At that time, the country was so far from the concept of a “female doctor” that her name was written as “Safiye Ali Bey” in the Register of Disabled Veterans’ Big Trade.

She did not intend to remain merely a clinic doctor. She was very eager to serve her country. She became the first woman to provide medical education by giving medical lessons to students at the American College for Girls. In 1924, she was among the founding members of the Turkish Women’s Union and carried out successful work on women’s rights. Ali, who attended the International Congress of Women Doctors in London in 1924, was also the first female delegate to represent Turkey at an international congress. Her response to the criticism of being the only female doctor in her country at a European congress was like a beacon to the future:

“I am here to represent not the current female doctors but those who will be trained in the near future.”

Until 1927, Safiye Ali worked for women and children at the “Süt Damlası” and “Kızılay Women’s Center”. In 1928, she had to go to Germany due to her illness. Although she wanted to return to Turkey after the end of World War II, her health condition prevented this. Safiye Ali, Turkey’s first female doctor and advocate of women’s rights, passed away in Dortmund in 1952.

Before she breathed her last breath, three words slipped from her lips:

“Women are entrusted to you…”

Note: Extracted from Orhan Bahtiyar’s book “Faces of the Republic,” prepared for Beylikdüzü Municipality.