Who Was Remziye Hisar, Türkiye's First Female Chemist?

Google creates doodles for important figures and events. Today, the search giant featured Remziye Hisar, Turkey's first female chemist, in its Doodle on the search page. Google did not forget Turkey's first female chemist and provided access to information about Remziye Hisar's life when the visual is clicked. So who is Remziye Hisar? We have compiled Remziye Hisar's life for you. Remziye Hisar was born in Üsküp in 1902. Hisar, who had a successful educational career, graduated from Darülmuamillat. She then enrolled in the chemistry department of Darulfünün. At that time, she was one of three female students studying in the chemistry department. She explained her reason for choosing the chemistry department with the words: "In science lessons, whether in laws or inventions, I always saw foreign names. I thought that if I succeeded in the science field, I could overcome the shame of not seeing a single Turkish name in this field." Hisar became the first Turkish woman to graduate with a doctorate degree from Sorbonne University in France. In Republican Turkey, she was recognized as a woman who was a pioneer of modern science and chemistry. After completing her education, she went to Azerbaijan on 15 December 1919 with five fellow students to teach at a school that would open in Baku. She taught at a boys' high school there until Soviet Russia brought Azerbaijan under its sovereignty. In Azerbaijan, she married Captain Doctor Reşit Süreyya Bey during a gathering and returned to Istanbul in 1920, the year of her marriage. In 1921, she gave birth to her son Feza Gürsey. During these years, the War of Independence was still ongoing in Turkey. As a result of the wars, the Çukurova region was reclaimed from the French. Following this development, Hisar was appointed as director of Darülmuallima in Adana, and her husband Reşit Süreyya Bey was appointed as corps doctor. When heading to Adana to take up duty, Hisar left her one-and-a-half-year-old son with his mother.

Who was Remziye Hisar's teacher?

In 1923, after the proclamation of the Republic, she went to Paris to be with her husband for treatment. Here she studied chemistry at Sorbonne University in Paris. She received education from scientists expert in their fields such as Madame Curie and Langevin. In the second year of her studies here, she earned the right to benefit from a scholarship provided by the Ministry of National Education. She followed the Pasteur Institute and obtained a biochemistry certificate. When the education scholarship was cut off just as her doctorate was about to begin and she was appointed as a chemistry teacher at Erenköy Girls' High School, she returned to Turkey. Hisar gave birth to her daughter Deha Gürsey in 1924. In 1930, Hisar obtained the opportunity to benefit from the Ministry of National Education's overseas doctorate scholarship. Upon this, Hisar went to Paris again to pursue her doctorate. Hisar, who divorced her husband, went there with her sister and two children and returned to Turkey after completing her doctoral thesis. Hisar became the first Turkish woman to graduate with a doctorate degree from Sorbonne University. Between 1933-1936, Hisar taught chemistry courses in the Chemistry and Physics departments at Istanbul University. After 1936, she left the university and worked as Chemistry Specialist in the Pharmacodynamics Department of the Hygiene Institute. Between 1942-1947, Hisar worked in the Analytical Chemistry and Toxicology Department at Istanbul University School of Pharmacy and in 1955 was appointed to the Chemistry Department of the Mining Faculty at Istanbul Technical University. Hisar was deemed worthy of the "Officiel d'Academie" decoration in France in 1955 and became a professor in 1956. She retired in 1973 and spent her life in Istanbul in a mansion inherited from her family in Anadoluhisarı Otağtepe. In 1991, she was awarded the TÜBİTAK Service Award. Remziye Hisar passed away on 13 June 1992.