Ömer Behçet Uz (1893 – 19 May 1986) was a Turkish

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

, politician, former mayor of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

and

government minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

Biography

He was born in Buldan

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

(district) of

Denizli Province Denizli Province () () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in Western Anatolia, on high ground above the Aegean coast. Neighbouring provinces are Uşak to the north, Burdur, Isparta, Afyon to the east, Aydın, Manisa to t ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1893. He studied in İzmir High School, which was later renamed to Atatürk High School, and in the School of Medicine of

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

. After working in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, he moved to

to practice

pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

. In 1922, he founded ''Veremle Mücadele Derneği'' ("Society to Struggle Against

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

") In 1931, he was elected as the Mayor of İzmir. In this post, he served for ten years. He was instrumental in establishing Kültürpark, erecting the Atatürk Monument, establishing playgrounds, market squares, constructing some streets. In 1941, he was elected as a

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP) deputy from Denizli Province. Between 9 July 1942 and 9 March 1943, he was the Minister of Commerce in the 13th government of Turkey. Between 7 August 1946 and 10 June 1948 in the 15th and the 16th government of Turkey, he was the Minister of Health and Social Security. After the CHP lost the parliament majority in the 1950 general election, he joined the Democrat Party. Between 17 June 1954 and 9 December 1955 in the 21st government of Turkey, he was again the Minister of Health and Social Security. He died in 1986 in Istanbul The Dr. Behçet Uz Çocuk Hospital, a

children's hospital A children's hospital (CH) is a hospital that offers its services exclusively to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults from birth up to until age 18, and through age 21 and older in the United States. In certain special cases, the ...

is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uz, Behçet 1893 births 20th-century mayors of places in Turkey People from Buldan Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine alumni Turkish pediatricians Mayors of İzmir Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Denizli Democrat Party (Turkey, 1946–1960) politicians Government ministers of Turkey Ministers of health of Turkey Members of the 13th government of Turkey Members of the 15th government of Turkey Members of the 16th government of Turkey Members of the 21st government of Turkey 1986 deaths