First Turkish female doctor
(B. 2 February 1891, Istanbul – D. 1592, Deutscland). She was from a family who were noted for
their services in various fields in the Ottoman Empire. Along with having
attended Amerikan Kız College, she also took private lessons. During the Balkan
Wars, she saw the wounded soldiers and decided to be a doctor. However,
financial problems and the conditions of the period she lived in restricted her
opportunities. Safiye Ali, who attracted attentions with her sedulity and
successes, didn’t give up despite all barriers she encountered and was sent to
Germany to take medicine education with the help of Şükrü Bey, the Minister of
National Education.
She specialized on women’s
and children’s diseases in Germany. She returned to Turkey in the last days of
Turkish Independence War and got to work immediately. She served in a clinic
established by Cağaloğlu and at milk and nursing homes. She was supported by
prestigious doctors of the era like Besim Ömer Pasha, Akil Muhtar, Surgeon Emin
Bey. She represented Turkey in medicine congresses abroad. She treated the
soldiers in World War II in Germany where she went to due to her health
problems with her husband. She couldn’T cope with the cancer disease she got
and died of cancer in 1952.
REFERENCE: İhsan Işık / Ünlü Kadınlar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013), Almanya'da bir sokağa Türkiye'nin ilk kadın doktoru Safiye Ali'nin adı verildi (internethaber.com, 16.08.2023).
