Beria Onger
Bakiye Beria Onger (1921 – February 14, 2015) was a Turkish feminist activist and writer, a pioneer of the progressive women's movement in Turkey. She led the Progressive Women's Organization of Turkey until it was banned ahead of the 1980 coup. Onger also ran for Senate as a member of the Communist Party of Turkey in 1979.
Bakiye Beria Onger | |
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Born | 1921 |
Died | February 14, 2015 (aged 93–94) |
Alma mater | Ankara University, Law School |
Title | President of the Progressive Women's Organization of Turkey |
Term | 1975–1979 |
Political party | Communist Party of Turkey |
Early life and education
Beria Onger was born Bakiye Beria Hanım in Çanakkale, Ottoman Empire, in 1921.[1][2]
She studied to become a lawyer at Ankara University, Law School, graduating in 1941. She worked as a government civil servant, then began practicing law independently in 1957.[1]
Activism
Onger founded a small organization of women activists in 1965.[3] Then, in 1975, she became the founding president of İlerici Kadınlar Derneği, the Progressive Women's Organization of Turkey, which fought for women's democratic and economic rights.[4]
She also worked as a journalist, publishing articles in defense of women's rights in the newspaper Cumhuriyet and trade union magazines, including Akşam during the years when it was owned by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions.[1] She also owned the newspaper that was the official organ of the Progressive Women's Organization, Kadınların Sesi (Women's Voice).[5] Onger published several books and booklets on the liberation of women in Turkey.[6]
She ran the Progressive Women's Organization until it was shut down by the government in 1979.[1][7]
Onger was also a founding director of the Peace Association of Turkey, which operated from 1977 until it was banned in 1980.[8]
In the 1979 elections, she ran for a seat in the Senate of the Republic as an independent candidate affiliated with the Communist Party of Turkey. She received 22,000 votes in Istanbul but was not elected.[9][6]
She was forced to flee abroad after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, but later returned to Turkey.[10]
Personal life
Onger was married to the writer and critic Fahir Onger from 1946 until his death in 1971. The couple had two children.[2]
She died in Istanbul in 2015, and is buried at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.[10]
References
- "İstanbul Bağımsız Senatör Adayı Kalan Beria Onger'i Tanıtıyoruz" (PDF). Kadınların Sesi (in Turkish). 1979.
- Durmuş, Mitat (2018-12-19). "Fahir Onger". Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü - Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- Shield, Andrew D.J. (2016). "Immigrants in the Sexual Revolution: Perceptions, Participation, and Belonging, The Netherlands and Denmark, 1960s-80s". CUNY Academic Works.
- İlerici Kadınlar Derneği (1975-1980) : kırmızı çatkılı kadınlar'ın tarihi (in Turkish). Pervan, Muazzez,, İlerici Kadınlar Derneği. (Birinci basım ed.). Istanbul. ISBN 978-975-333-289-7. OCLC 874163425.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - "KADINLARIN SESİ". TÜSTAV (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- Gazetesi, Evrensel (2015-02-17). "Beria Onger'in ardından". Evrensel (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- Polin, Nancy; Kentucky; Bonosaro, Carol A.; Michigan; Leland, Mickey; Kansas; Falls, Niagara; Dellums, Ronald V.; Rangel, Charles B.; Cohen, Joan; Murray, Evelyn Sheen (1979-06-01). "Letter". The WREE-view: Bulletin of Women for Racial and Economic Equality. 4 (2). doi:10.2307/community.28047033.
- Görsev, Doğan, ed. (1986). Türkiye'de Barış Savaşımı'nın Küçük Seyir Defteri (in Turkish). Duisburg, Germany: Infomedia Satz & Verlag GmbH bas. pp. 14–23.
- "TKP'nin bağımsız adayı Bakiye Beria Onger'in Sultanahmet Mitingi 1979". Türkiye Sosyal Araştırma Vakfı on YouTube. 2018-06-23.
- "Bakiye Beria Onger yaşamını yitirdi". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2020-11-20.