Mehmet Fesa Evrensev (1878,

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, ...

- 9 April 1951, Istanbul) was the first Turkish Ottoman

aircraft pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and the first president of

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 ...

Biography

Fesa Evrensev was born in 1878 in the Gedikpaşa neighborhood of Istanbul. He entered the

Military Academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

after

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

and graduated as a Cavalry Lieutenant in 1899. He passed the exam in first place to become a pilot in 1911 and was sent to France to take flight training. After returning to 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 1912, he served as a fleet commander during a number of flight missions in the

Balkan War The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defea ...

. During

World War I 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 ...

, he was stationed in the Caucasus Front. On his way to the Caucasus, the ship he boarded in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

, off the coast of

Amasra Amasra (from Greek Amastris Ἄμαστρις, ''gen''. Ἀμάστριδος) is a small Black Sea port town in the Bartın Province, Turkey, formerly known as Amastris. The town today is much appreciated for its beaches and natural setting, ...

, was attacked by the Russians. All those on the sunken ship were taken prisoner by the Russians. His captivity lasted for about five years in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, and he escaped to return home in June 1920. He participated in 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 ...

and was stationed on the Eastern Front and on the Western Front before the

Great Offensive The Great Offensive ( tr, Büyük Taarruz; ) was the largest and final military operation of the Turkish War of Independence, fought between the Turkish Armed Forces loyal to the government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and the Kin ...

. Later, he was appointed as a teacher to the Air Academy in Izmir. He retired in November 1925. In 1933, he was appointed as the manager of the Turkish State Airlines, Turkey's first air transport organization and predecessor to Turkish Airlines. A year later, he was assigned to the

Turkish Aeronautical Association Turkish Aeronautical Association ( tr, Türk Hava Kurumu - THK) is a non-profit organization with an aim of increasing public awareness and participation in aviation related activities and the national body governing air sports in Turkey. The asso ...

. Fesa Bey, Turkey's first pilot, died on April 9, 1951 and was buried in the

Karacaahmet Cemetery The Karacaahmet Cemetery ( tr, Karacaahmet Mezarlığı) is a 700-year-old historic cemetery, located in Üsküdar, the Asian side of Istanbul. Karacaahmet cemetery is the oldest and largest in Istanbul at , and the largest burial ground in Turkey ...

in the

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

district of Istanbul.

References

{{Authority control 1878 births 1951 deaths Turkish aviators Turkish Air Force personnel Turkish Airlines Aviation pioneers

Biography

See also

References