İbrahim Refik Saydam (8 September 1881 – 8 July 1942) was a Turkish physician, politician and the fourth Prime Minister of Turkey, serving from 25 January 1939 until his death on 8 July 1942."Prime Ministers of the Turkish Republic"
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Biography

Saydam was born 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 ...

in 1881 as the son of Hacı Ahmet Efendi of

Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek: Γάγγρα), is the capital city of Çankırı Province, in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. History Çankırı was known in ...

. After completing primary and secondary education in Fatih Military Junior High School, he entered to Military School of Medicine in 1899. He went on a training course at Gülhane as of graduating with the rank of doctor captain on 4 November 1905. He was assigned as a doctor at Maltepe Military Hospital and Feshane Factory between the years 1907-1910 and improved his expertise in military camps and hospitals by being sent to Germany in 1910. He was a medic in the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

during the dissolution of the empire. He created a medicine to cure

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

, which was used largely by the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

. Saydam was one of the key people of the Independence War. He landed at

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

with Mustafa Kemal (later named: Atatürk) in 1919 to start the resistance in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. He was known as a reformist while he was the Prime Minister. Just three years after his death, the one-party period came to an end in Turkey.

Political life

Saydam became the vice-president of the Department of Health of the Ministry of War on 1 December 1913 and was promoted to the rank of major on 1 June 1915. Meanwhile, he established the Institute of Bacteriology and his vaccines against epidemics and especially typhus had been effective. After the truce, he assigned to the order of 9th Army Inspectorship and passed to Anatolia along with Mustafa Kemal as the health inspector of the army, soon named as the 3rd Army Inspectorship, on 15 May 1919. He attended to Erzurum and Sivas Congresses, came to Ankara with the delegation committee and joined to the opening ceremony of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey with the elections held for the first term as the deputy of Bayazıt on 23 April 1920. He was elected as the Minister of Health in the Council of Ministers under the presidency of Fevzi Pasha, as the Minister of Health and Social Relief upon the resignation of Adnan, and resigned from ministry suggesting his sickness on 14 December 1921. Being elected as İstanbul deputy, he officiated as the Minister of Health under the cabinet of İsmet Pasha in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th sessions. After the death of Atatürk, at the Second Bayar Government formed on 11 November 1938, Saydam performed as the Minister of Interior and was assigned as the general secretary of the Republican People's Party. He was appointed to Prime Ministry of the

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...

and 12th government of Turkey by President

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three tim ...

as İstanbul Deputy at the 6th session elections on 25 January 1939. During this duty, he died in İstanbul on 8 July 1942 and was buried in Ankara. Endeavoring to extend the health services and establishing health facilities, especially the Hıfzıssıha Foundation which is today known with his name, at the period of his health ministry, he also tried to protect the nation from the negative impacts of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

during the period of prime ministry. He was never married. File:İsmet İnönü ve Refik Saydam, 1939.jpg,

and Refik Saydam, 1939

References

Sources

* Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Directorate of Cultural Heritages and Museums

External links

Biography

Political life

See also

References

Sources

External links