Woman in iconic Atatürk photo dies at age of 99
ADANA
Remziye Tatlı, 99, whom Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, met during his visit to the southern province of Adana in 1937 and who was featured in an iconic lecture photo with him, has died of heart failure due to old age.
Tatlı, a high school student at the time, seen in the photo listening to Atatürk’s history lesson at the İsmet Paşa Girls Institute, had become one of the iconic names across the country. She had told Demirören News Agency about her memory with the first president of the country and its founder last year.
Expressing in the interview that she was very excited to hear that Atatürk was going to visit her own schools in 1937, Tatlı had said she felt very lucky to have had a very unique moment.
“I never forget the first word Atatürk said when he walked in. ‘Have a seat, the cultured mothers of the future,’ he called us. After that word, we sat on our seats,” she said, noting the excitement of her classmates and herself.
She had been receiving special treatment for seven months in her home in the Seyhan district. Tatlı passed away on Nov. 29 due to heart failure.
Noting that her mother’s condition had worsened in the last three months, Metin Kenanoğlu said that after receiving the bitter news, they buried Tatlı’s body in the city’s Asri Cemetery.
Stating that her mother never stopped loving Atatürk and lived devoted to following his principles throughout her life, Kenanoğlu also showed the other photos of the deceased with Atatürk.
“My mother loved children very much. She was everyone’s mother. Condolence to all of us,” he said.
