8.03.2019
The world is a more beautiful place with inspiring women. A place where women have equal rights and freedoms and are represented in all wakes of life.
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2019, we take a closer look, and commemorate, the lives of Turkey’s first ever female Olympians.
There are some women, who throughout history, have paved the way for inspiring women to take up sport, alongside every other area of life.
Halet Çambel and Suat Fetgeri Aşeni are considered to be Turkey’s leading female Olympians who have helped spread the power of dreaming of the Olympics for young girls, and encouraging them to participate on the biggest sporting stage of all.
Halet Çambel was born in 1916 in Berlin. Her father, Hasan Cemil Bey, was a military attache and a close friend of Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. Her mother, Remziye Hanım, was the daughter of İbrahim Hakkı Paşa, Turkey embassador to Berlin, at the time.
Following the establishment of Republic of Turkey, Halet Çambel returned to her native country with her family and registered at the Arnavutköy Girls’ High School. According to her own words, she was born weaker than the average child, and believed that she could overcome her condition by practicing sports such as swimming, rowing, archery, horse riding, cycling and fencing.
Çambel took fencing lessons from Robert Alexander Nadolski, a sports teacher at Robert College and a coach at Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club. She then participated in national competitions and appeared as a fencer at the 10th year of the Republic celebrations.
Following her graduation from Arnavutköy High School in 1935, Çambel went to Paris to study archaeology whilst continuing her fencing and equestrian training. In 1936, along with fellow future Olympian Suat Fetgeri Aşeni, she was invited to participate at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympic Games.
After one month of training in Budapest, Çambel participated at Berlin 1936 and although she was not successfull in her pursuit of a medal, she inspired an entire generation of young men and women in Turkey to not shy away from their dreams.
Speaking on her Olympic Games participation, Çambel said:
“They took us to a training camp, but our trainer Nadolsky, who had a very flexible style, was not allowed to come with us. They gave us a Hungarian trainer in Pest [Budapest]. Since this trainer's techniques were very harsh, we lost our own techniques. And we did not acquire new ones either.”
In 2012, many years after her Olympic birth, Çambel revealed why she decided to take up fencing:
"The German books I read contained stories about knights. I was very impressed by them, this is why I took up fencing.”
In the 1940s, after having retired from fencing, Çambel teamed up with German archaeologist Helmuth Bossert, with whom she played a prominent role in excavating the antique Hittite settlement of Karatepe, deciphering Hittite hieroglyphics.
When quizzed on her secrets to success and longevity, her answer was simple: "Working, working, working."
Turkey’s second female Olympian to take part at Berlin 1936, Suat Fetgeri Aşeni, was born in 1916. Her father, Ahmet Fetgeri Aşeni, was one of the founders of the Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club and the Union of Turkish Gymnastics Associations, which was Turkey’s first national federation.
With her father’s support and encouragement, she was introduced to sport at a very young age. She started out in gymastics before moving to fencing. As Turkey’s first female fencer, she only faced male opponents. After a short time, her best friend, Halet Çambel, began to compete with her. Çambel and Fetgeri both took lessons from Nadolsky.
In 1935, Fetgeri took part in the Symbolic Fencing Match between Turkey and the Soviet Union. This was her first opportunity to compete in an international event. With Çambel, they performed well and were both selected for Turkey’s national fencing team before participating at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games.
Commenting on her her feelings after being the first female Olympian in Turkey’s history Fetgeri said:
”For me, being one of the first Turkish sportswomen ever to participate in the Olympic Games was both a great privilege and a source of pride.”
Her Olympic experience was enhanced by the presence of a familiar figure:
“My farher was one of the administrators in the Turkish national delegation that participated in the Olympics, which made this fantastic event all the more special.”
Suat Fetgeri’s following sentences show us what participating in Olympics can represent for an athlete:
“I beat my Czech opponent 5-0 and also won against my American rival 5-3 which allowed me to advance into the second round. But that is where I lost against my Swiss opponent. Despite my failure, I am happy and proud to have represented my country at the most presigious events of all, the Olympic Games, and for managing to win a couple of competitions during the Games.”