Semiha Berksoy (24 May 1910 – 15 August 2004) was a Turkish

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

and paintress.

Early life

Semiha Berksoy was born in

Çengelköy Çengelköy is a neighborhood in the Üsküdar district on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, between the neighborhoods of Beylerbeyi and Kuleli. It is mainly a residential district. Many mansions were built there in t ...

, Istanbul. Her mother was a painter. Semiha studied music and the visual arts at Istanbul Conservatory.Sebnem Arsu (August 23, 2004
"Semiha Berksoy, 94, Turkish Star of Opera and Art, Dies"
''The New York Times''.

Career

Berksoy started her acting career with the role of ''Semiha'' in the first Turkish sound movie ''İstanbul Sokaklarında'' directed by

Muhsin Ertuğrul Muhsin Ertuğrul (28 February 1892 – 29 April 1979), also known as Ertuğrul Muhsin Bey, was a Turkish actor and director. Muhsin Ertuğrul, who had important contributions to both Turkish theatre and Turkish cinema, was born in İstanbul ...

in 1931. She was cast in operettas in Istanbul theaters early in her career. She sang in the first Turkish opera ''Özsoy'' in 1934 (commissioned by

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a common Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See als ...

, composed by Adnan Saygun). She was honoured as the First Turkish Opera Singer and awarded with the opportunity to go to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Music Academy for further training. She started her international singing career in 1934, performing in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

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and

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, becoming known as a Wagnerian soprano. In 1939, for the 75th birthday of Richard Strauss in

, she sang the role of ''Ariadne'' in ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'', becoming the first Turkish prima donna to perform on stage in Europe. Back in

, she worked with

Carl Ebert Carl Anton Charles Ebert (20 February 1887 – 14 May 1980), was an actor, stage director and arts administrator. Ebert's early career was as an actor, training under Max Reinhardt and becoming one of the leading actors in his native Germany duri ...

helping him in his efforts to create the

Turkish State Opera and Ballet 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 ...

. This initiative lead to the creation of the Experimental Stage of the Ankara State Conservatory 1940. She retired from the Istanbul Opera in 1972. She was decorated with the "Atatürk Opera Award" at the 50th anniversary ceremonies commemorating the introduction of women's rights to vote and to be elected. She received the title of "

State Artist State Artist ( tr, Devlet Sanatçısı, also sometimes translated as "National Artist") is an honorary title granted to prominent artists by the government of Turkey for their contributions to the Turkish culture. It was established in 1971 by the ...

" in Turkey in 1998. Following her retirement, she remained active mostly as a theater artist. Four years before her death, at the age of 90, she appeared in a dramatic scene singing ''Liebestod'' in Robert Wilson's opera ''The Days Before: Death, Destruction and Detroit III'' at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

(1999). She died in Istanbul at the age of 94 due to complications related with

heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

. She is survived by her daughter, Zeliha Berksoy.

Tribute

On 24 May 2019, on Berksoy’s 109th birthday, she was honored with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

Filmography

* ''İstanbul Sokaklarında'' ("In the Streets of Istanbul"), (1931) * ''Söz Bir, Allah Bir'', (1933) * ''Büyük Sır'' ("The Big Secret"), (1956) * ''Karanlık Sular'' ("The Serpent's Tale"), (1993) * ''Boulevard Bio'', (2002)

References

External links