Nezahat Baysel

Nezahat Baysel
Photograph of Baysel in the early 1920s
Nickname(s)	Nezahat Onbaşı Turkish Joan of Arc
Born	1908 Erzurum, Ottoman Empire
Died	24 September 1993 (aged 85) Istanbul, Turkey
Buried	Karacaahmet Cemetery, Istanbul, Turkey
Allegiance	Turkish National Movement
Years of service	1920–1922
Rank	Corporal
Battles/wars	Turkish War of Independence Konya rebellion Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Battle of Geyve Battle of the Gediz Battle of the Sakarya First Battle of İnönü Second Battle of İnönü
Awards

Nezahat Baysel (1908–24 September 1993), nicknamed Nezahat Onbaşı (lit. 'Corporal Nezahat'), was a Turkish corporal who distinguished herself as a hero of the Turkish War of Independence. She participated in the struggle in 1920, aged 12, and served until the end of the war in 1922. Baysel was immortalised as the "Turkish Joan of Arc" by the public.

Baysel participated in numerous battles of the Turkish War of Independence alongside her father, who was the commander of the 70th Regiment; she was officially thanked by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for her contributions during the war. She was promoted at the age of 12 to the rank of corporal by the division commander, Ahmet Derviş Pasha. Baysel was the first person to be awarded the Medal of Independence, with the decision taken by the Grand National Assembly on 30 January 1921. However, the implementation of the award was delayed, and the medal was presented in 2013 to Gizem Ünaldı, Baysel's great-granddaughter.

Life

Family

Nezahat Baysel was born in 1908 in Erzurum, Ottoman Empire. Her father was Hafız Halit Bey, and her mother was Hadiye Hanım. Hadiye Hanım died from tuberculosis during World War I. Thus, Baysel's father had to take her to the front with him. Nezahat was present at the Gallipoli front where her father fought, and later took part in the Turkish War of Independence with the 70th Regiment under her father's command. Thus, she spent her childhood on the battlefronts where she learned how to ride a horse and use a gun.

Start of military career

Baysel first wore her military uniform in 1920. Her first gun was given to her as a gift by Çerkes Ethem, whom she had met on the battlefronts. She became the poster girl of the 600-men 70th Regiment, which the Greek forces called the "Girls' Regiment", thus attracting the attention of Atatürk and İnönü. Baysel, who met Atatürk during his visit to the regiment, met him on the frontlines three more times: at the foothills of Bursa Ahudağ, in Atatürk's private wagon in Bozüyük, and in Akşehir.

Battle of the Gediz

Nezahat Baysel played an important role in the retreat of soldiers and the regrouping of her regiment during the Battle of Gediz, where the Turkish army was losing at first; she stood in front of the soldiers and said "I am going to my father to die, where are you going?", boosting the morale of the soldiers so that they returned to the battle. With the Turkish victory, she was commemorated as a war hero and was given the rank of corporal.

Medal of Independence

The actions of Corporal Baysel were discussed in the Grand National Assembly while the war was ongoing. On 30 January 1921, member of parliament for Bursa, Emin Erkul, proposed to present the first Independence Medal to Corporal Baysel. The decision to award the medal was accepted in minutes by members of Parliament, but it was not realised during Baysel's lifetime.

After the Turkish War of Independence

After the war, Baysel lived with her father in Istanbul. She studied first at the Bursa American Girls' College, and then at the French Jean Dark Institute in Kumkapı, Istanbul. Baysel was removed from her middle school by her father upon his second marriage. In 1931, she married Captain Mehmet Rıfat Bey (1899–1974), a young soldier who was also a recipient of the Medal of Independence. When the Surname Law was passed, the couple took the surname "Baysel" and had two daughters. Nezahat Baysel lived in multiple cities such as Tokat, Amasya, Bursa, Ankara, and Istanbul, where her officer husband was stationed. She completed her education, which she had left unfinished, at the İsmet İnönü Girls' Institute in Ankara in 1936, aged 28.

After her husband Mehmet Rıfat Bey became one of Atatürk's aides, Baysel (who was also close to Atatürk) attended state ceremonies and balls held at Dolmabahçe Palace, establishing good relations with the wives of soldiers and politicians of the period. Mehmet Rıfat Bey died in 1974, aged 75.

Inability to receive medal

The public became aware of Nezahat Bayel's story through Samet Ağaoğlu's book "Kuvayı Milliye Ruhu" in 1944. Journalist Kadri Kayabal, who interviewed her, borrowed documents related to her in the War of Independence days, but lost them. Thus, Baysel was unable to receive the Medal of Independence because the certificate proving that she was a corporal was lost. However, when the issue was brought to the agenda by a newspaper columnist, she was presented with a certificate of appreciation by the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Necmettin Karaduman, at a ceremony held in Dolmabahçe Palace in 1986.

Death

Nezahat Baysel died at the Gülhane Military Medical Academy on 24 September 1993, aged 85. A group of soldiers attended her funeral ceremony, and she was buried in the Karacaahmet Cemetery in Istanbul.

Legacy

Comic book

The story of Nezahat Baysel's life, often described as "heroic", was drawn by the artist Şeref Manun using the Japanese comic art anime-manga technique, and the work was published as a comic book in 2006.

Posthumously awarded medal

The life of Nezahat Baysel and her death before receiving the Medal of Independence were the subjects of Ozan Bodur's 2013 book "Meclis'in Unuttuğu Kahraman Nezahet" (Nezahet, the Hero Forgotten by Parliament) and came to the fore once again recently. In 2013, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Cemil Çiçek, apologised for the delay and awarded the 95,262nd Medal of Independence to Gizem Ünaldı, the great-granddaughter of Baysel.