Deniz Akkaya (born 3 August 1977) is a Turkish top model, presenter, occasional fashion editor and disc jockey, entrepreneur, businesswoman, and actress who won Best Model of Turkey 1997. As the top-earning model in Turkey in the early 2000s, Deniz Akkaya is considered to be one of the most leading models in Turkish fashion history, and one of the most beautiful women of the country.

Early life and family

Deniz Akkaya was born on 3 August 1977 in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. She is Circassian, as the daughter of an

Hatuqwai The Hatuqway ( ady, Хьатыкъуай, translit=Hatıqway; tr, Hatukay; ar, حتوقاي, links=, translit=Hatuqway; ; russian: Хатукай, translit=Khatukai) are one of the twelve major Circassian tribes, representing one of the twelv ...

father and a Kabardian mother named Dinemyis ( Adyghe: ''Apple of the eye''). Her father was a

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...

and

master mariner A master mariner is a licensed mariner who holds the highest grade of seafarer qualification; namely, an unlimited master's license. Such a license is labelled ''unlimited'' because it has no limits on the tonnage, power, or geographic location of ...

who served as the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(managing director) of Turkish Maritime Facilities Inc. Her mother was an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

who worked for

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...

, the national flag carrier of Turkey. She studied American

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

. After graduating from the ISTEK SS Private High School on the

Avenue Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, ...

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...

, she studied American Culture and Literature in Department of Western Languages and Literatures of Faculty of Letters at

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

. Following the competitions

Elite Model Look Elite Model Look (formerly known as Look of the Year from 1983 to 1995) is a yearly fashion modeling event held by Elite Model Management, an international model management group. It is used to discover and launch female fashion models in the int ...

and

Best Model of Turkey Best Model of Turkey is a female or male beauty competition. From 1988 to 1993, only Turkey's best female model was chosen in the competition. Since 1993, male models are also included. There were two exceptions: in 2004 when in addition to a mal ...

, she decided to embark on a professional modelling career.

Modelling career and fashion

In 2006, Akkaya became the host and lead judge of the fashion-themed reality television show '' Turkey's Next Top Model'', the Turkish counterpart of the ''

Top Model ''Top Model,'' also called ''Next Top Model,'' is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons, which are referred to as "cycles". T ...

'' franchise that was hosted by many supermodels, including

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

in the United States and

Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television host, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secre ...

in Germany. In 2015, she was also entered in the Best of the Best as one of the ''

Habertürk ''Habertürk'' (literally: "News Turkish"), abbreviated as ''HT'', was a high-circulation Turkish newspaper. It was established on March 1, 2009 by Ciner Media Group, drawing on the brand of Ciner's Habertürk TV. It ceased publication on 5 Jul ...

s top 20 winners of the

competition, and finished first amongst the former female titleholders who found entry in the large-scale survey that lasted for fifteen days.

Acting career

After being crowned Best Model of Turkey 1997, Akkaya decided to embark on a professional modelling career. As a film and television actress, she has acted in the films '' The Masked Gang: Cyprus'' (2007), '' Living & Dying'' (2007), ''

School A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

'' (2003), ''

Vizontele Tuuba ''Vizontele Tuuba'' is a 2004 Turkish comedy-drama film, written and directed by Yılmaz Erdoğan, based on the writer-director's childhood memories of the last summer of his childhood in village in 1980. The film, which went on nationwide release ...

'' (2003), and '' Green Light'' (2002) in addition to the television series ''Hemşehrim'' (1996), ''Şarkılar Seni Söyler'' (2003), and ''Metro Palas'' (2004). She also served as editor for a fashion magazine and launched the children's luxury ready-to-wear store Chic Frog by Deniz Akkaya.

Personal life

In 2009, she gave birth to her daughter in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, US.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akkaya, Deniz 1977 births 20th-century Turkish actresses 21st-century Turkish actresses Actresses from Istanbul Best Model of the World contestants Best Model of Turkey winners Turkish businesspeople in fashion Fashion editors Women DJs Living people People from Kayseri Retail company founders Turkish bloggers Turkish female models Turkish people of Circassian descent 21st-century women musicians Women magazine editors Turkish women editors Turkish women bloggers