Suna Koç Kıraç (born Suna Koç; June 3, 1941 – September 15, 2020) was a Turkish businesswoman and a billionaire.

Early years

Suna Koç was born to

Vehbi Koç Ahmet Vehbi Koç (20 July 1901 – 25 February 1996) was a Turkish entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Koç Group, one of Turkey’s largest groups of companies. During his lifetime he came to be one of Turkey's wealthiest citi ...

(1901–1996), the wealthiest businessman of Turkey, and his wife Sadberk (1908–1973) on June 3, 1941. She became the vice president of

Koç Holding Koç Holding A.Ş. () is the largest industrial conglomerate in Turkey, and the only company in the country to be listed on the Fortune Global 500 as of 2016. The company, headquartered in Nakkaştepe, Istanbul, is controlled by the Koç family, ...

. She married İnan Kıraç, then a high-level executive of Koç Holding. As they were unable to have a biological child, they adopted a four-month old baby girl named

İpek Peja (Definiteness, Indefinite Albanian language, Albanian Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest List of cities and towns in Kosovo, city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipali ...

in their 15th year of marriage.

Museum

Suna Kıraç and her husband established a foundation for culture and education. The foundation opened the

Pera Museum Pera Museum ( Turkish: ''Pera Müzesi'') is an art museum in the Tepebaşı quarter of the Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey, at Meşrutiyet Avenue No. 65 (adjacent to İstiklal Avenue and in close proximity to Taksim Square.) It has ...

in 2005, which exhibits three valuable art collections of the Kıraç family.

Awards

Suna Kıraç was awarded the State Medal of Distinguished Service by the Turkish Council of Ministers for her contributions to education, health and social services in the country on September 23, 1997. She received the award from President

Süleyman Demirel Süleyman Sami Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the ...

on October 27, 1997. In 2008, she was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and tw ...

for her contribution to education.

Autobiography

In 1998, she published an autobiography, in which she wrote about her life, her marriage, how she adopted her daughter

, her professional years, her illness and her dreams. * ''Ömrümden Uzun İdeallerim Var!'', 1998 ("I Have Ideals Longer Than My Life!").

Illness and death

She experienced the first symptoms of her illness shortly after her father's death and her involvement in the family business. In 1996, she suffered aphonia. The next year, her hands began to fall asleep, and one year later, she began to lisp. She was diagnosed in the

Houston Methodist Hospital Houston Methodist Hospital is the flagship quaternary care hospital of Houston Methodist academic medical center. Located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, Houston Methodist Hospital was established in 1919 during the height of the ...

with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS), a specific disease that causes the death of neurons which control voluntary muscles. Kıraç was paralyzed throughout her entire body in 2000. She could not make any movements, walk, or talk, and she communicated only through eye movement. When she wanted to express a will, she winked for the right letter on a Turkish alphabet show card. Kıraç died on 15 September 2020 in

American Hospital (Istanbul) The Vehbi Koç Foundation (VKV) American Hospital, known locally as Amerikan Hastanesi, is a non-profit private hospital located in the Nişantaşı area of Istanbul, Turkey. The hospital was founded in 1920 by Arthur L. Bristol, Rear Admiral in t ...

at the age of 79. She was interred at

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery ( tr, Zincirlikuyu Mezarlığı) is a modern burial ground residing on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of polit ...

following a memorial ceremony before the headquarters of

and the religious funeral service held at of the

Divinity (academic discipline) Divinity is the study of Christian theology and ministry at a school, divinity school, university, or seminary. The term is sometimes a synonym for theology as an academic, speculative pursuit, and sometimes is used for the study of applied the ...

mosque of

Marmara University Marmara University ( Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...

References