Şirin Tekeli


Şirin Tekeli was a feminist, academician, translator, writer, activist and one of the pioneers of second wave feminism in Turkey.

Early life and education

After graduating from Ankara Kiz Lisesi in 1961, Şirin Tekeli moved to France to learn French. By reading Simone de Beauvoir’s work, she became familiar with feminism. In 1963 she began studying Law in Paris, however she transitioned to University of Lausanne in Switzerland to study social and political science. She graduated in 1967.

Career

In 1967, she returned to Turkey and became the first female academician to enter the Chair in political science at Istanbul University. In 1973 she obtained her PhD with a thesis on David Easton’s System Theory. In 1978, she obtained her associate professor title with her, at the time "controversial", habilitation thesis on women’s participation to politics named "Kadınlar ve Siyasal Toplumsal Hayat".. This thesis, had a great effect on her ideology, she recalls :
"''I was a "timid feminist" but by the time I finished it I saw clearly that women were being oppressed, exploited and excluded from the public sphere. It was not capitalism that was doing this, it was male dominance"..
After her thesis, she started working on elections. She returned to France and spent the academic year 1979–1980 at the Scientific Research National Center with a scholarship, learning cartography. She, during this period, formed a computer database, with all the data concerning the elections in Turkey, and studied the sociology of elections in urban areas with Jean Ranger and his team. In 1980-81 she organized a seminar on the sociology of politics
When the Council on Higher Education was established, after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, under the military government in Turkey, she resigned from her academic position as she believed that YÖK limited the freedom of thought and academia. This leave was originally temporary, as Tekeli hoped that YÖK would only exist for a few years, however, the institution still stands today.

Activism

After she left academia, she began an active role in the feminist movement of Turkey. Seeing the 80s as the "years of action", she dedicated herself to ameliorate women's situation and raise awareness in Turkey via campaigns and protests. In the 90s, "the years of institutionalisation", as she calls them, have started: Tekeli focused on creating associations and foundations.

Years of action

Following Turkey’s decision on not changing the civic law in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, in 1986 she took part in a petition demanding changes in the constitution, laws and practice, in accordance with the contract.
On 17 May 1987, she participated to the first legal protest after the military coup, and demanded an end to domestic violence. In 1989 she took part in the Mor İğne campaign, creating awareness against sexual abuse, In the 1980s she also got involved with various campaigns against murder of divorced women.

Years of institutionalisation

To make the fruits of the actions taken in 1980s sustainable, she took part in the creation of the following foundations and associations:
During her years in academia and after her resignation she contributed to Turkish feminist literature. She worked as an author, editor and a translator. The translations she made helped the creation of the Turkish feminist terminology.

Books

Turkish

In 1996, she was awarded with Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Cultural Ministry of France.

Personal life and death

Şirin Tekeli was married to lawyer Ahmet Tekeli, with whom she met while studying at University of Lausanne. Her marriage lasted until 2010, when Ahmet Tekeli died. For his memory, Şirin Tekeli used the assets he left to her to found the Şirin-Ahmet Tekeli Association for Supporting Women Lawyers
In 2017, Sabancı University Gender and the Women's Studies Center began granting research a award in memory of Şirin Tekeli: "The Şirin Tekeli Research Award". This award was created to support and promote research focusing on gender in Turkey.
Tekeli died on 17 June 2017 in Bodrum, Turkey due to a brain tumor. She donated her body to science to Istanbul Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty.