Naciye Nutku (1911-1994)
Born May 11, 1911 on the island of Samos where her father served on temporary duty as a court official, she came from a family that valued the education of girls. Her two elder sisters were brought up to speak several languages and play musical instruments but hard times, in the shape of Balkan war, were to descend on the family when she was born. As a one year old child she became a refugee when her family was forced to live in the basement of a school in Edirne (Adrianapolis) under seige. Her father's mother, widely referred to as Kira (Grand Dame), is said to have commented ``She will die of starvation, but where shall we find the plot of land to bury her?" After the lifting of the seige of Edirne the family moved to Istanbul which did not find favor with her grandfather who still lived with memories of Yanya (Ionina) and died soon afterwards. Further, as a child she remembered seeing the dead body of her father who had drowned in the Bosphorus, in spite of her family's best efforts to shield the kids. Naciye's wonderful family had a long tradition of strong female leaders who were also warm people at the same time and her mother Safiye, under Kira's watchful eyes, saw the family through in the most difficult times of World War I and the Turkish War of Liberation.With the founding of the Republic in 1923 her two eldest sisters became teachers in prestigious all-girl schools and became the main providers of the family.
Naciye was a gifted child.
She was good in mathematics and physics. She was also left-handed but was forced to write right-handed in primary school at the threat of sticking needles into her left fingers. Her hand-writing remained terrible to the end. When the time came for her to decide seriously on a course of education she had the choice of taking the tough examination for scholarship students in Muallim Mektebi (College of Teachers) which provided free room and board, or enter the Istanbul Technical University (College of Engineering) which just that year had decided to accept girls. Towards the end of her life Naciye told Yavuz that she regretted nothing and would have done everything she did exactly in the same way if she had a second chance, however, there was one exception. Naciye in her 80's remembered the names of the two girls who had enrolled as first female students at ITU then and wished that she had done the same. On the other hand, the entrance examination to Muallim Mektebi was the reportedly hardest exam and she passed with flying colors. At this time her family moved to Kayseri (Ceasaria) after her eldest sister Neyir's marriage to a doctor who decided to practise medicine there. The doctor, Ahmet Rasim Onat, was a cousin and would become the real mainstay of the family. He immediately assumed the role of patriarch and remained so until his death. He was also the last patriarch.
Naciye was a serious student. She remained at school all the time except during summer vacation when she travelled by train to Kayseri, a two days journey, all on her own. For her this was just routine and the reason can be found in the fact that she had good perception of the physical world as well as good judgement in human affairs. Perhaps the most remarkable gift she had was her capacity to assign a quantitative value to her observations. An example of this remarkable feat can be found in her response to a question asked by one of her teachers as to the length of the facade of the main building in their school. She was the only one of her classmates able to state the correct length in meters. During the process of cooking a soup she would call Yavuz and start a discussion comparing the craters bubling up on the surface to those on the moon. The ensuing conversation about convection cells was very heated indeed with neither party accepting half an explanation.
Upon graduation from Muallim Mektebi, Naciye became a teacher at an elementary school and was able to continue her life without dependence on her family. Actually now she had become the provider. She lived with her younger sister Mehpare and their mother until Mehpare's marriage to Muzaffer. She taught for four years until she married Ata at age 27. A colleague and friend of Ata, Adnan Kaynar, an electrical engineer who was later to become an admiral was married to Fahrunisa, Naciye's first cousin. He introduced Ata to Naciye's family by saying that ``If the family is happy with me as a son-in-law, it will be happier with Ata." He lent Ata a clean uniform and together they went to Buyuk Ada (Principio of Princes' Islands) to visit Naciye who was staying at the home of Dr. Ahmet Rasim during the summer vacation. Afterwards Ata confided to his friend ``She is so proud, I think I have no chance." However, Naciye had read about Ata in the newspapers as the architect of the first modern ship built in Turkey and said yes! They were engaged and that summer Ata sailed into Buyuk Ada in his two-masted sail boat, loudly calling the name of the sailor assigned to him by the Navy to announce his arrival. The family spent many happy day trips on the boat. Still one day while the two were sailing alone the wind died down. They arrived at 5 AM to find Safiye sitting in a deck chair, calmly waiting for them. Long time after this Yavuz asked Naciye what happened that night. Naciye was surprised and said ``Don't you think you know me, of course nothing happened. I admired the strength in the arms of your father rowing the landing boat with the huge sail boat in tow!" Sail boats that Ata had a predilection to construct on the side were to become a major point of contention in their marriage. The characters of Naciye and Ata were in many ways the opposite of each other. Ata was impulsive, to the point, always ready to act immediately, whereas Naciye who had no shortcomings about acting decisively herself, always lived by the dictum of Safiye: ``Before taking a step you should consider the result of the next step that you will be forced to take afterwards." They complemented each other magnificiently and lived a happy marriage of 56 years.
Ata and Naciye were married in a simple civil ceremony in 1937. Ata's only request of her was that she should stop working. This must be understood in the context of the following 56 years: They were never seperated. They started living in Golcuk on the bay of Izmit (Istmuth) close to the shipyard. Their home was an isolated little house in the middle of an orchard and fields, all alone. Then came the launching ceremonies of Atak, the second modern ship built in Turkey. Since it was designed by and built under Ata's leadership, Naciye was to launch it. Newspapers of that time are witness to the great excitement caused by this event. The launching of the first ship had come upon the public unawares and was appreciated only later. This time however, the public was ready and expecting another affirmation of what the country was capable of producing in the new Republic. The tradition of launching naturally emphasizes the role of the lady who will break the bottle of champaigne and in the Republic there was a strong emphasis on the liberation of women. Naciye rose up to the occasion superbly, she was the star. In the newspapers of the day she is reported as the main supporter of Ata, a teacher and symbol of the modern Turkish woman. After the launching ceremonies her mother Safiye told Naciye that she considered this to be her proper wedding ceremony. They did not have time to bask in glory however, because all the ships built in Turkey at that time were support ships and the country did not have war ships on the threshold of World War II. So Ata was assigned to a committee to oversee the construction and final acceptance of war ships that the Turkish government had comissioned from British naval yards. Thus from the isolation of Golcuk Naciye was transported to bustling Oxford Circus in London.
Naciye and Ata lived through the aerial blitz of the Battle of England. Naciye was most impressed by the calm, collected way in which the English conducted themselves in this ordeal, in particular the women with children. She was to use it as a model in bringing up her children later on, but this was no time to have children. Ata and Naciye travelled to various cities in England where shipyards were located and as a consequence remained under constant bombardment. However, this was all in vain as the British government was not going to deliver the ships in war time. So they returned to Turkey and for the first time after 5 years of marriage they were able to think of having children. Naciye was 32 when she had her first child Yavuz, with Ayla arriving 2 years later.
There was another event which took place during their stay in London that was characteristic
of Naciye. One day Ata, in his usual style without any preparation, took her to a jewelry shop and asked her to
choose a ring. She stormed out of the shop stating that she wanted a home, not ornament. In London Ata was getting
paid double his regular salary and Naciye saved it all. Well, not quite. Ata usually left the table hungry after
an English boarding house meal and they would buy extra food and eat it in their room. The landlady was quick to
discover this and one day pointedly looking at them said ``Some people don't know where to stop!" in her most
disapproving way. In fact, Ata always had the idea that more was better. As he was also a very generous person,
his family and friends had to put up with a lot. Furthermore, in his personal and professional life he would follow
the dictum that more was better and act very intensely towards that end. So the phrase ``Some people" either
ending with an exclamation mark, or with the voice tailing off resignedly after that, was to become Naciye's favorite
expression.
