Fatma Seher Erden (1888 – 2 July 1955), known as Kara Fatma, was a decorated Turkish

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

who distinguished herself as a militia leader and soldier during the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

Nickname

The word ''kara'' literally means "black" in Turkish and is sometimes used as a synonym for "brunette"; when used for warriors, however, it usually means "courageous".

Life

She was born in

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

, in the Erzurum Vilayet 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) ...

. Her father was Yusuf Ağa. Her husband died during the

Caucasus Campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dict ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1919, she travelled to

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

where a congress was held by

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

(later Atatürk). She requested to be enlisted in the army. After Mustafa Kemal Pasha's approval, she formed a militia group. There were 43 women in addition to 700 men under her command. She was taken prisoner twice by the

Greek Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

. According to an interview in the newspaper '' Tanin'', during her second imprisonment, she was taken to the headquarters of General

Nikolaos Trikoupis Nikolaos Trikoupis ( el, Νικόλαος Τρικούπης; 1868–1956) was a Greek general and politician, most notable for his service in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. He also participate ...

, where the general spoke to her. She managed to escape from the prison soon afterwards. She fought at both the

İzmit İzmit () is a district and the central district of Kocaeli province, Turkey. It is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about east of Istanbul, on the northwestern part of Anatolia. As of the last 31/12/2019 estimation, the ...

- Bursa and

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

fronts. According to the columnist Yılmaz Özdil, her unit was one of the first to enter İzmir during the Liberation of İzmir from the Greeks on 9 September 1922. Her unit controlled

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of İzmir. Its centre is at a distance of to the north from the traditional cen ...

(north of İzmir Gulf).

Later years

Although female soldiers were unheard of until 1919, Kara Fatma was officially appointed as a soldier, as were many others (including

Halide Edib Adıvar Halide Edib Adıvar ( ota, خالده اديب , sometimes spelled Halidé Edib in English; 11 June 1884 – 9 January 1964) was a Turkish novelist, teacher, ultranationalist and feminist intellectual. She was best known for her novels critici ...

) under Mustafa Kemal Pasha. She began her military career as a corporal and ended as a first lieutenant. She then retired and donated her pension to the Turkish

Red Crescent The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. She almost faded away from public memory until 1933, when a journalist found her living in poverty in a former Russian monastery 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 ...

with her grandchild. In 1944, she published her memoirs. She was given work and honoured by displaying her medal on military parades in national days. Kara Fatma died on 2 July 1955 at the hospital of ,Tarihhaber page
/ref> a charity foundation, run by the Municipality of Istanbul, where she spent the last years of her life.

Legacy

She was decorated with a Medal of Independence, a medal reserved to those people who majorly contributed to the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kara Fatma 1888 births 1955 deaths People from Erzurum People from Erzurum vilayet Women in the Turkish War of Independence Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red Ribbon (Turkey) Turks from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Turkish women

Nickname

Life

Later years

Legacy

See also

References