Huriye Baha Öniz (1887 – November 2, 1950) was a Turkish educator and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Baha was her father's name and Öniz was the surname which she had assumed after the

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit ...

. She was amongst the first group of women elected to the Turkish parliament.

Life

Huriye Baha was born to Baha and Ayşe in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, then the capital of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, in 1887. After primary and secondary schools in İstanbul, she studied teaching at Bedford College, London. She married Hayrettin, and gave birth to a son named Sinasi Ali.

Teaching career

During the Ottoman Empire era, she served in İstanbul as a teacher in various schools for girls. She also served as an educator for people of Turkish descent from Balkan countries who escaped to İstanbul after the Balkan Wars (1912–1913). During the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

era beginning by 1926, she served in various missionary schools in İstanbul. She taught in a Greek school in 1926, in a Jewish school in 1928 and in an Italian school in 1927. In 1933 she was working in an Armenian school and in a Greek School in 1934. After political career, she continued in an Italian school in 1939. In 1946, she taught in

Erenköy Girls High School Erenköy Girls High School ( Turkish: ''Erenköy Kız Anadolu Lisesi'') is a public girls high school in the Erenköy neighborhood of Kadıköy district in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1911 during the Ottoman Empire, it is the oldest surviving ...

, and finally in 1949 Beyoğlu Girls School. Huriye Baha Öniz died in İstanbul on 2 November 1950.

Political career

Turkish women Women in Turkey are women who live in or are from Turkey. Turkey gave full political rights to women, including the right to elect and be elected locally in 1930 (nationwide in 1934). Article 10 of the Turkish Constitution bans any discrimina ...

achieved voting rights in local elections on 3 April 1930.''Türkiye'nin 75 yılı'', Tempo Yayıncılık, İstanbul, 1998, p.48,59,250 Four years later, on 5 December 1934, they gained full universal suffrage, earlier than most other countries. In 1935, for the first time 17 women were elected into the

5th Parliament of Turkey The 5th Grand National Assembly of Turkey existed from 8 February 1935 to 3 April 1939. There were 444 MPs in the parliament all of which were the members of the Republican People's Party (CHP). 5th parliament was the first Turkish parliament in w ...

. Huriye Baha Öniz joined the Republican People's Party (CHP), and was elected in the general election held on 8 February 1935 from

Diyarbakır Province Diyarbakır Province ( tr, Diyarbakır ili, Zazaki: Suke Diyarbekır ku, Parêzgeha Amedê) is a province in southeastern Turkey. The province covers an area of 15,355 km2 and its population is 1,528,958. The provincial capital is the cit ...

. In the parliament, she was a member of the commissions of the Forestry, Highways and the Airplane Factory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oniz, Huriye Baha 1887 births Alumni of Bedford College, London Schoolteachers from Istanbul Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 5th Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Diyarbakır 1950 deaths 20th-century Turkish women politicians Women's suffrage in Turkey