Şükrü Saracoğlu

Mehmet Şükrü Saracoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [ʃyˈcɾy saˈɾadʒoːɫu]; 1 January 1887, Ödemiş – 27 December 1953, Istanbul) was a Turkish politician and the sixth Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey. He was also the chairman of Fenerbahçe S.K. for 16 years between 1934-1950, including his time as prime minister as well.

Biography

Born in Ödemiş, in 1887, he is the son of Saraç (Lorimer) Mehmet Tevfik Usta. He completed the primary and middle school in Ödemiş, high school in the prestigious Izmir Ataturk Lisesi in Izmir and graduated from the School of Civil Service (Mekteb-i Mülkiye) halla in 1909. For a while, he worked as officer of attendance and performed as mathematics teacher in İzmir High School (Sultaniye). In 1915, he studied in the Academy of Political Sciences in Geneva, Switzerland for the account of İzmir.

After the occupation of İzmir by the Greeks, he turned back to the homeland and established the struggle front in the region of Kuşadası, Aydın, Nazilli. He attended to the Grand National Assembly as İzmir Deputy in 1923; performed as Minister of Education in the cabinet of Fethi Okyar; and presided to the Commission for Composite Population Exchange that will conduct the negotiations with the Greek Government later on. He was appointed as the Minister of Finance in the third cabinet which was formed by İsmet Pasha. After seceding from the Ministry, he was sent to the US to complete some contacts about economic issues in 1931 and presided to the board going to Paris to solve the Ottoman Public Debt issues. In 1933, he reentered to the cabinet as the Minister of Justice and performed as the Foreign Minister at the first cabinet of Celal Bayar.

In the close days to the World War II, he took place in the negotiations with the Russians in Moscow for months.

Upon the death of Refik Saydam in 1942, he was assigned as the Prime Minister and resigned from this duty due to his sickness. He was elected as the President of the Grand National Assembly in 1948 and remained in this position until 1950.

Saracoğlu, who retired from the political life in 1950, was a farsighted statesman raised along with Atatürk, knows French and English. He married and had three children.

He died on 27 December 1953.

The Varlık Vergisi, a law on wealth enacted during his government in 1942, was imposed on wealthy non-Muslim minorities in Turkey in an arbitrary and unrealistic manner. It caused much criticism at home and abroad that led finally to its abolition in 1944. The short living draconian law effected also a landslide victory of the opposition Democratic Party in the 1950 general elections.

The home of the Turkish football club Fenerbahçe, Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, is named after him.

References

• Biography, Biyografi.info (Turkish)