Ayşe Sabiha Gökçül Erbay (1900 – August 31, 1998) was a Turkish school teacher, politician and one of the first 18 female members of the Turkish parliament.

Private life

Ayşe Sabiha was born to Aziz and his spouse Nadire in Bergama,

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

, then

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 1900. She was educated at the Teacher's College. She then attended the Teacher's Higher College, and graduated in 1919. After the enactment of 1934 Surname Law, she took the family name "Gökçül". Ayşe Sabiha Gökçül married to Mustafa Ulvi Erbay in 1943.

School teacher career

On September 19, 1919, her teaching career began with her appointment to the Teacher's School for Girls in

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

as a teacher for

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

. Her employment ended on June 21, 1920, when the Ottoman Empire was about to go to an end. After three years of unemployment, and with the establishment of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, she returned to her career, appointed on October 22, 1923 to the Teacher's School for Girls 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 ...

as a teacher for Turkish language. Between February and October 1924, she served at the Girls' High School in İzmir as a teacher of

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

, and at the same she had duties of a deputy principal. She was then appointed principal of the Teachers' School for Girls 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 ...

, where she also taught

Turkish literature Turkish literature () comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Turkish language. The Ottoman form of Turkish, which forms the basis of much of the written corpus, was highly influenced by Persian and Arabic literature,Bertold Sp ...

. In September 1925, she returned to her former workplace, the Teacher's School for Girls in İzmir, where she served as a teacher of Turkish language until May 1927, and then of Turkish literature to February 1935, when she resigned to enter politics.

Politician career

According to the Law of Suffrage enacted in 1934, Turkish women were granted to vote and run for a seat in the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. She was nominated by 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) for the 1935 general election held on February 8. She entered the 5th Parliament as a deputy of

. She became so one of the first 18 female members of the Turkish parliament. She was elected secretary of the parliament's

presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

for the first year of the parliamentary session. She became so also the first female member of the parliament's presidium. In the following three years of her term, she served in the parliamentary committee for customs and monopoly. In a report about her electoral district she prepared with other deputies of Balıkesir for the parliament in 1935, it was noted that a teacher was needed to be allocated to Ayvalık, Balıkesir Province in order to raise the cultural level of the immigrants settled there, reducing the oil prices would be very beneficial for the farmers and the

land reforms Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

have to be expedited for the villagers without

agricultural land Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other organism, forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous ...

. In the 1939 general election held on March 26, she was not able to keep her seat in the parliament as a deputy of Balıkesir. She returned to her profession as a teacher. She served as a teacher of Turkish literature at Erenköy Girls High School 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 ...

between June 1939 and August 1941. In the intermediate general election of 1941, she gained a seat in the 6th Parliament as a deputy of

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

. She continued with her membership in the 7th Parliament as a deputy of Samsun following the 1943 general election held on February 28. She returned to the teaching career after the 1946 general election held on June 21.

Later years

After leaving politics, Sabiha Gökçül Erbay resumed her profession as school teacher. She served at Gazi High School in

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 ( ...

as a teacher of Turkish literature between February 1947 and October 1948 befure she retired. Sabiha Gökçül Erbay died on August 31, 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gokcul Erbay, Ayse Sabiha 1900 births People from Bergama Schoolteachers from the Ottoman Empire Turkish schoolteachers 20th-century Turkish women politicians Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Balıkesir Deputies of Samsun Members of the 5th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 6th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 7th Parliament of Turkey 1998 deaths Women's suffrage in Turkey