Suna Koç Kıraç (born Suna Koç; June 3, 1941 – September 15, 2020) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

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 citiz ...

(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 Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a ...

. 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 (Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mounta ...

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 ...

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

Awards

Suna Kıraç was awarded the

State Medal of Distinguished Service State Medal of Distinguished Service ( tr, Devlet Üstün Hizmet Madalyası) is one of the three civil state decorations of Turkey. The medal was established on October 24, 1983 with the Law on Medals and Orders, Act No. 2933. It is rewarded to Tur ...

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 politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Turkey seven times between ...

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 two ...

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 Aphonia is defined as the inability to produce voiced sound. Damage to the nerve may be the result of surgery (e.g., thyroidectomy) or a tumor. Aphonia means "no sound". In other words, a person with this disorder has lost their voice. Causes ...

. 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 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) at the age of 79. She was interred at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery 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