First female chemist in Turkey (B. 1902,
Skopje – D. 13 Jul 1992, Istanbul) A Turkish woman brought many innovations. She was
the first Turkish woman graduated from the French Sorbonne University as well
as being the first female chemist of the Turkish Republic. She was the mother
of world famous physics scientist Feza Gürsey and the only Turkish member of
the International Psychology Society, psychiatrist Deha Gürsey. She completed
the three-year-long Mekteb-i İptidayi (Primary School) in Istanbul / Davutpaşa
only in one year when she was nine. Afterwards she attended to İttihat ve
Terakki School and Emirgân İnas Rüştiyesi
(Secondary School for Girls). But, when her beloved Turkish teacher started to
teach at İstanbul Darülmuallimatı (Çapa Kız Öğretmen School), she continued her
education there. On July 15th, 1919, she graduated from the two-year
section created to prepare the students to Darülfünun (Istanbul University) with
the first place degree. While studying there, she used to teach geometry and
arithmetic to the students in the lower grades. Finishing her secondary
education, in 1919 she entered the chemistry department at Darülfünun.
In a period when the girls and boys attended
to different class hours at Darülfünun, she went to Bakû with her teacher and
her school friends. In Bakû, she found herself in the middle of a war. The war
at the Caucasus and to learn that there were no need for them in Bakû
discouraged her. She started to lecture at a teacher training school for boys.
But the bad fortune and troubles followed one after the other. She stayed there
for one year and returned to Istanbul with her husband, Dr. Reşit Süreyya Gürsey,
whom she met and married in Bakû after the Soviet Russia terminated the
independency of Azerbaijan. Following the birth of her first child, she was
appointed to Adana Darülmuallimat (Kız Öğretmen School) in 1922 as the principal
and started her duty by leaving her child to be taken care of by her mother.
Hisar had to continue her works under such
difficult conditions and she went to Paris with her husband to improve her
knowledge when her husband went to Paris for treatment. She started to have
lessons at Paris Sorbonne University Faculty of Science Department of Chemistry
during the 1923-24 period. Those days, very popular teachers like Langevin and
Madame Curie were lecturing at Sorbonne. According to Remziye Hisar, getting to
know them and to be able to follow their lessons made her forget all the
difficulties she had. In 1929, Remziye Hisar started her doctorate study. But
she couldn’t complete her doctorate when the Ministry of National Education
called her back and ended her scholarship. After her return, she worked as a
teacher at Erenköy Kız High School. She was able to complete her doctorate in
1933, when she went to Paris for the second time. After completing her
doctorate thesis, she returned to Turkey; between 1933 and 1936 she worked as a
chemistry and physic-chemistry associate professor at Istanbul University. In
1947, she started to work as a mechanic and chemistry assistant professor and
she became a professor in 1959. She retired in 1973.