Şerife Bacı (literally: Sister Şerife), aka Şerife Kadın for "Mrs. Şerife", (born c. 1900 – died December 1921) was a Turkish

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythology, mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in Folk music, folk songs, folk tales ...

ine, who took part in the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

, and was declared a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

due to her death during the war.

Early life

She was born in a village in the Seydiler district of Kastamonu Vilayet. Her birth date is not known for certain. However, she was sixteen years old when she got married. Two months after her wedding,

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out, and her husband was recruited. Six months later, she learnt of the death of her husband in the Gallipoli Campaign (1915–16). The villagers arranged her re-marriage to a wounded war veteran named Topal Yusuf (literally: Yusuf the Lame), who had lost his left leg and an eye in a bomb explosion at the front. In the third year of her re-marriage, Şerife Gelin (literally: Bride Şerife) as she was called, gave birth to a daughter named Elif. Şerife was a helpful person for almost everyone and every work in the village.

Death

In the winter of 1921, the villagers were called to help transport ammunition needed in the Greco-Turkish War. She was on a trek together with her child and some other women carrying cannonballs on her oxen-driven

tumbrel A tumbrel (alternatively tumbril) is a two-wheeled cart or wagon typically designed to be hauled by a single horse or ox. Their original use was for agricultural work; in particular they were associated with carrying manure. Their most infamous u ...

from

İnebolu İnebolu is a town and district of the Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is from Istanbul by road and north of Kastamonu. It is a typical Black Sea port town with many fine examples of traditional domestic architecture. It ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. She was found dead shortly before the Kastamonu Barracks, perished from cold due to severe winter conditions in December 1921.

Recognition

In memorial of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic, the district mayor of Seydiler built 1973 a relief in her honor. In 1990, a monument by Tankut Öktem depicting Atatürk, Şerife Bacı and the women of Kastamonu in the War of Independence was placed in the Republic Square of the city. A monument in honor of "Martyr Şerife Bacı" was erected in the public park on the coast of İnebolu, commissioned by the General Commander of the Gendarmerie Aytaç Yalman and created by sculptor

Metin Yurdanur Metin Yurdanur (born 1951) is a sculptor based in Turkey, who was awarded the title State Artist (Turkey), State Artist of Turkey. Early years Yurdanur was born in 1951 in Sivrihisar town of Eskişehir Province in Turkey. He spent his childhood ...

. Its inauguration took place on December 4, 2001. Martyr Şerife Bacı is a symbol of the heroic Turkish women in the War of Independence. Many institutions such as schools and hospitals are named after her in Kastamonu and other cities in Turkey. In February 2012, twelve of the initially planned forty women from Kastamonu hiked the distance of from İnebolu to Kastamonu in three days under winter conditions to commemorate Şerife Bacı's deadly trek 91 years ago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baci, Serife 1900s births 1921 deaths People from Seydiler People from Kastamonu vilayet Women from the Ottoman Empire in warfare Turkish people of the Turkish War of Independence Turkish revolutionaries Women in the Turkish War of Independence Deaths from hypothermia