Yıldız Kayalar Eruçman (born 1919) was the first

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

female parachutist.

Early life

Yıldız Kayalar was born in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...

in 1919. Her family was of Turkish descent, and according to Population exchange agreement between Turkey and Greece, her family moved to Turkey, and settled in

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 agglo ...

in 1924. In 1934, after the Surname Law, the family assumed the surname ''Kayalar''. ''Eruçman'' is her surname by marriage.

Career

In 1935, after reading an article in a foreign periodical about the female pilots, she applied to the training center of Turkish Aeronautical Association in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

's adopted daughter and aviator

Sabiha Gökçen Sabiha Gökçen (; 22 March 1913 – 22 March 2001) was a Turkish aviator. During her flight career, she flew around 8,000 hours and participated in 32 different military operations. She was the world's first female fighter pilot, aged 23. As an ...

personally concerned herself with Eruçman's training. Together with three other women in the training center, namely Edibe Subaşı,

Nezihe Viranyalı Nezihe Viranyalı (1925 – 22 December 2004) was one of the first Turkish female aviators. She was trained by Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey's first female pilot. Biography Born in Vidin, Bulgaria of Turkish descent, she immigrated to Turkey as she w ...

and Sahavet Karapas, she received her aviation certificate. On 4 October 1935, she parachuted from a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-made aircraft of type

Polikarpov R-5 The Polikarpov R-5 (russian: Р-5) was a Soviet reconnaissance bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was the standard light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the Soviet Air Force for much of the 1930s, while also being used heavily as a civilian l ...

. She was the first ever female sky diver in Turkey. In later years, she continued in the same association as a trainer. However, her profession was not officially acknowledged. So, her title was "

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

worker", which was considered one of the most dangerous occupations of that time.Hürriyet newspaper
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erucman, Yildiz 1919 births People from Thessaloniki Greek emigrants to Turkey Turkish women aviators Turkish skydivers Possibly living people