Emine Semiye Önasya (28 March 1864 – 1944), mostly known as Emine Semiye and Emine Vahide, was a Turkish writer, activist, and early feminist.

Early life and education

Emine Semiye was born in Istanbul on 28 March 1866.[1] She was the second daughter of Ahmed Cevdet Pasha and sister of Fatma Aliye.[2][3] Her mother was Adviye Rabia Hanım.[4] Emine Semiye studied psychology and sociology in France and Switzerland for seven years.[1][3] She was one of the first Ottoman Muslim women educated in Europe.[3]

Career

From 1882 Emine Semiye worked as a Turkish and literature teacher in Istanbul and in other provinces.[3] She served as an inspector at girls’ schools and an assistant nurse at Şişli Etfal Hospital.[1] Her writings on politics and education were published in various publications, including Mütalaa (in Thessalonica) and Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete (Ottoman Turkish: Newspaper for Women) after the declaration of the constitutional monarchy in 1908.[1] She also wrote a math textbook entitled Hulasa-i Ilm-i Hesap in 1893.[5] In Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete she used first several pseudonyms, but later used her name and published various stories and travel writings.[6] Her most-known novels are Sefalet (1908) (Poverty) and Gayya Kuyusu (The Pit of Hell).[1]

Emine Semiye, together with her older sister Fatma Aliye, was a significant figure for the Ottoman women movement.[7] Emine Semiye was much more progressive and less orthodox than her sister.[6] She established several charity organizations to help women.[2] One of them was Şefkât-i Nisvân (Women’s Compassion) which was established in Thessalonica in 1898.[6] Another charity founded by her was Hizmet-i Nisvân Cemiyeti (Service of Women Association).[6]

She became a member of the progressive Committee of Union and Progress and later, of the Ottoman Democratic Party.[1] In late 1890s Emine Semiye was the head of the Union and Progress Women’s Revolution Committee in Thessalonica.[6] In 1920, she was named a member of the governing board of the Turkish Journalists' Association which had been called the Ottoman Press Association until that year.[8]

Personal life and death

Emine Semiye lived for a long time in Paris. She married twice.[3] Her first husband was Mustafa Bey. The second was Reşit Pasha. They divorced later.[3] She had two sons; one from each husband. Their names were Hasan Riza, son of Mustafa Bey and Cevdet Lagaş, son to Reşit Pasha.[3] She died in Istanbul in 1944.[3]

References

External links

На других языках

[ru] Онасья, Эмине Семие