Pakize İzzet Tarzi (1910 – 10 October 2004) was a Turkish physician. She is renowned for being the first female

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

in the

Republic of 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 ...

Early life

Tarzi was born in Ottoman

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

in 1910. Her father was the Inspectorates-General of the

Ziraat Bankası Ziraat Bankası is a state-owned bank in Turkey founded in 1863. Offers commercial loan support to companies and tradesmen, as well as personal loans such as consumer loans, vehicle loans and housing loans. History During the first half of the 1 ...

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

. The family moved to

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

once the British captured Damascus in 1918, and then to

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

once the French took control of Adana. She studied her secondary education at the Sörler Okulu and then decided to pursue a career as a doctor during her studies at the Bursa American Girls College. She finished her studies in Medicine in 1932. On 21 July 1949, she opened the first women's clinic, the "Pakize İ. Tarzi Kliniği", in

Şişli Şişli () is one of the 39 districts of Istanbul, Turkey. Located on the European side of the city, it is bordered by Beşiktaş to the east, Sarıyer to the north, Eyüp and Kağıthane to the west, and Beyoğlu to the south. In 2009, Şi ...

district of

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 also known as the very first Turkish woman, who swam across the

Bosphorous The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

in the 1930s.

Personal life

In 1935, she married Fettah Tarzi, who was the nephew of

Soraya Tarzi Soraya Tarzi (Pashto/Dari: ملکه ثريا; November 24, 1899 – April 20, 1968) was the first queen consort of Afghanistan as the wife of King Amanullah Khan. She played a major part in the modernization reforms of Amanullah Khan, particula ...

, wife of the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

King

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...

. They had two daughters, Fatma and Zeynep, and a son, Mahmut. Zeynep Tarzi was the second wife of the Imperial Ottoman Prince

Ertuğrul Osman Şehzade Ertuğrul Osman Efendi ( ota, ارطغرل عثمان), also known as Osman Ertuğrul Osmanoğlu with a surname as required by the Turkish Republic (18 August 1912 – 23 September 2009), was a Prince of the Ottoman Empire and the 43rd H ...

. Tarzi died at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarzi, Pakize 1910 births 2004 deaths People from Aleppo Turkish gynaecologists Turkish women physicians Turkish physicians 20th-century Turkish physicians 20th-century women physicians