Benal Zübeyde Nevzat (İştar) Arıman (1903 – 19 July 1990) was a Turkish poet, writer and politician. She was one of the first 18 female members of the Turkish parliament.

Private life

Benal Nevzat was born to Tevfik Nevzat and his wife Cemile in

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 ...

, in the

Aidin Vilayet The Vilayet of Aidin or Aydin (, ) also known as Vilayet of Smyrna or İzmir after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire in the south-west of Asia Minor, including the ancient regi ...

of the

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 1903. She had two sisters Emine Menije (Öke) and Mutahhara (Keskiner). Her father, a lawyer, prominent local journalist, poet and a member of the

Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...

, was imprisoned in

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

for opposition to

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

's (reigned 1876–1909) press

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

. He was killed in the prison on 17 May 1905, three months prior to his release. His death was officially declared as suicide. The family faced financial difficulties after the Ottoman government seized the office following her father's death. She was schooled in the "Bedreka-yi İrfan", a private primary school of the notable educator Yusuf Rıza Efendi. She completed her secondary education at Lycée Notre Dame de Sion, İzmir. In 1922, she was sent to France for education upon recommendation of

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

(later Atatürk), as he liberated İzmir from Greek invasion. She entered the Faculty of Letters at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. During her study in Paris, she was supported by her paternal uncle Refik Nevzat, a prominent Young Turk. She graduated four years later, and returned home in 1926. In 1936, she married Neşet Arıman, general manager of the Turkish representation of the

Singer Corporation Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing mac ...

. She gave birth to their daughter İştar (Güralp). Benal Nevzat Arıman died on 19 July 1990. She was interred at the

Zincirlikuyu Cemetery The Zincirlikuyu Cemetery () is a modern burial ground in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. It is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality. Many prominent figures from the world of politics, business, sports and arts rest here. The ce ...

following the religious ceremony at

Teşvikiye Mosque The Teşvikiye Mosque () is a neo-baroque structure located in the Teşvikiye neighbourhood of Şişli district in Istanbul, Turkey. History The mosque was originally commissioned in 1794 by Sultan Selim III, but most of the current mosque t ...

Career

As a member, Benal Nevzat served for several charity organizations, like

Turkish Red Crescent The Turkish Red Crescent () is the Turkish affiliate of the International Red Crescent and the first worldwide adopter of the crescent symbol for humanitarian aid. Being the largest humanitarian foundation in Turkey, its roots goes back to the ...

( or today ), the Society for the Protection of Children ( or today ), Association for Tuberculosis Control ( or today ) and

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...

. In 1926, she entered the

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), and became so the first female member of the party's İzmir branch. She served four years in the provincial administrative board of the party. Between 1930 and 1934, she served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

becoming so the first female member of the city council of İzmir. In the years 1932–1934, she was a member in the Committee for Language, History and Literature of the İzmir Community Center (). In addition to her political, social and cultural activities, she wrote poems, short stories, columns and made translations, which were published in several journals and periodicals, like ''Hizmet'' (1926–1932), ''Fikirler Derfisi'' (1927–1928), ''Ahenk'' (1927–1929), ''Anadolu'' (1929–1934) and ''Halkın Sesi'' (1932). She took part in the 1931-established Association of Literature (). Even though in limited number, she continued to publish her poems and columns in the İzmir media after 1934. Through legislation enacted on 5 December 1934, Turkish women gained full universal suffrage. President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (in office 1923–1938), aware of the political activities of Benal Nevzat, recommended her nomination for the general election. She entered the 5th parliament as a deputy of İzmir following the 1935 general election held on 8 February. She became so one of the first 18 female members of the Turkish parliament. During the first four-year parliamentary term, she was part of the Committee for Economics. She was elected three times more, and kept her seat in the 6th,

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

and

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

parliaments until 22 May 1950. She published a play ''Kara Osman'' in 1973 and a poetry book ''Aytım'' in 1974.

Legacy

A performance hall in the seventh floor in the

Türkan Saylan Türkan Saylan (13 December 1935 – 18 May 2009) was a Turkish medical doctor in dermatology, academic, writer, teacher and social activist. She was famous for fighting leprosy, and for founding a charitable foundation called "Association for t ...

Cultural Center of the İzmir's Konak Municipality is named "Benal Nevzat Hall".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Istar Ariman, Benal Nevzat 1903 births 1990 deaths Politicians from İzmir People from Aidin vilayet Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 5th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 6th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 7th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 8th Parliament of Turkey Deputies of Trabzon 20th-century Turkish women politicians 20th-century Turkish poets Turkish women poets Turkish women writers Women's suffrage in Turkey University of Paris alumni Burials at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery