Semiha Berksoy (1910, Istanbul - August 15, 2004, Istanbul) was a Turkish opera singer, theater actress and painter.

She is one of Turkey's first internationally recognized artists and one of the art icons of the Republican era.[1][2] She performed in the first Turkish film with sound, the first Turkish opera staged by the order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the first stagings of the major works of opera at the Ankara State Opera and Ballet. In 1939, she played the lead role in Richard Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" in Berlin and became the first Turkish opera singer to perform in Western Europe. She was always closely interested in the visual arts and participated in important international exhibitions with her works.Berksoy was known as the "woman of firsts" for breaking new ground in many other fields of art.

He was born in 1910 in the Çengelköy neighborhood of Istanbul. His mother was Fatma Saime Hanım, a sculptor and painter, and his father was Ziya Cenap Berksoy, a finance clerk and poet. He received his interest in art from his parents. When he was eight years old, his mother died of the Spanish flu. For a while, he lived with his uncle Basri Cenap Bey, who was the chief clerk at Düyûn-ı Umûmiye at the time. After his father remarried, the family moved first to Sultanahmet and then to Kadıköy. He completed his primary and secondary education at Kadıköy Primary School. The presence of Kuşdili Theater across the street from their house in Kadıköy influenced his inclination towards art. He started writing his first stories when he was a primary school student. In 1928, she took lessons from a singing teacher in Beyoğlu.

She started her high school education at Istanbul High School for Girls. When the Istanbul Conservatory was established with the reorganization of Darülelhan in those years, she studied singing with Nimet Vahit Hanım at this school. In 1929, she gave her first public concert. Cemal Reşit Rey accompanied her in this concert where she sang various arias from Nikolay Rimski-Korsakov's opera Sadko.

In the same period, he passed the exams of the Academy of Fine Arts and studied sculpture with Refik Epikman and ceramics with İsmail Hakkı Oygar at the Namık İsmail Workshop; however, when he concentrated on performing arts, he took a break from painting until 1957.

In 1930, she passed the exam of the two-year Darülbedayi Theater School and started theater. She made her debut on the theater stage with the role of "the girl who sells flowers" in Tolstoy's play "The Living Cadaver". In 1931, she starred in Muhsin Ertuğrul's film Istanbul Sokakları. She traveled to Paris for the shooting of this film, which was the first Turkish sound film, and played the character of "Semiha, the Innkeeper's Daughter". It was during this trip that she saw an opera in Paris for the first time and met opera for the first time.

In 1932, she took part in the play "Skull" written by Nâzım Hikmet and staged by Muhsin Ertuğrul, singing the tango "Sinyorina with Karagöz". She was the only female student graduated from the school. In the same year, she starred in Schiller's drama "Hile and Love" at Darülbedayi, followed by the musical "Yalova Türküsü" (Yalova Song), whose poems were written by Nazım Hikmet, and the play "Güneş Batarken" (As the Sun Sets) staged by Muhsin Ertuğrul. She also played the role of the Egyptian Princess Atıfet in the operetta Lüküs Hayat, staged by brothers Ekrem and Cemal Reşit Rey at the City Theater in 1933 on the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic.

Berksoy, who was unemployed for a while when she was dismissed from the City Theater due to lack of space in the cast, was offered a role in the Süreyya Operetta; she then starred in operettas such as "Emir, Çardaş Fürstin, Mascot, Leblebici Horhor and gained fame.

She starred in the movie Söz Bir Allah Bir (1933), scripted by Nazım Hikmet. Berksoy's friendship with the famous poet continued for many years. Their correspondence was published in a book titled "Nazım Hikmet and his Toscası Semiha Berksoy". In the 1934-1935 season, Berksoy played the lead role in the play "Bir Rüyadır" (A Dream), which Nazım Hikmet wrote for her.

She started her opera career in 1934 with her role in Özsoy Opera, which is considered the "first Turkish opera". She sang the role of "Ayşım" in the work staged in Ankara in honor of the President and the Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi. This performance was a turning point in her life. She had the opportunity to give a small concert in the Çankaya Mansion in the presence of Mustafa Kemal and it was suggested that she should go to Berlin for opera training. After returning from Ankara, Berksoy continued to act in operettas, and on October 6, 1936, she passed an exam and won both the right to enter the Ankara State Conservatory and a scholarship to the Opera Department of the Berlin Higher Academy of Music and went to Berlin. During his studies, he gave concerts at the Turkish, US and Italian embassies and on the Berlin radio. At the end of her studies between 1936-1939, she played the leading role (Ariadne) in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" in the public performance of the Berlin Academy Opera. Thus, she became the first Turkish opera singer to perform in Western Europe.

After completing her three-year education in Berlin and returning to Turkey, she was appointed as a voice specialist at the conservatory. He gave concerts as a soloist with the symphonic orchestra conducted by Muhsin Sadak. His first concert in Ankara was with the orchestra conducted by Cemal Reşit Rey.While the establishment of the State Opera and Ballet was in progress, Carl Ebert offered her to play the lead role in Tosca, the first professional opera performance in Turkey. She started to live in Ankara to work in Tosca. At the Ankara State Conservatory, he was not appointed to the vocal staff, but to the orchestra as an "opera translator". On April 2, 1941, the second act of Tosca was staged at the Ankara People's House Stage, accompanied by the Republic of Turkey Philharmonic Orchestra. Berksoy then played the role of Ciocio San in the opera Madame Butterfly. After a bad review of his performance, he abruptly resigned from the opera and left the country. Despite the ongoing World War II, he went to Berlin. Since he could not be appointed to the vocal staff in Ankara because the equivalence of his diploma from the Berlin Higher Music Academy was not accepted, he went to the academy in Berlin to prove the equivalence of his diploma. When World War II began, she returned home without her diploma and with letters from her teachers praising her voice quality. In May 1943, she married Ercüment Siyavuşgil, who was also a pianist and worked at the Ankara Gas Company. Her daughter Zeliha was born from this marriage (1946).

Berksoy's certificate from the Berlin Higher Academy of Music was not accepted by the Ministry of Education. The artist was not allowed to perform in operas between 1949 and 1951 and went to Vienna with her daughter. After giving concerts abroad, Berksoy was appointed as a soloist at the State Opera and Ballet, which opened in 1950. In the 1951 opera season, she played the leading role of 'Marta' in Eugene d'Albert's opera Tiefland (Çukurova). The following year, she played the role of Leonore in Mozart's opera Fidelio, which was staged by the opera department of the State Theater on the occasion of Beethoven's 125th death anniversary on May 1. On May 22, 1953, she organized "Wagner Concerts" at the Ankara State Conservatory Concert Hall, accompanied by Mithat Fenmen, the head of the conservatory's piano department. 1954 She played the role of Anne in "Hansel and Gratel Opera" performed on the stage of Ankara State Conservatory. Starting from 1956, she participated in Bayreuth Festivals for three consecutive years.

In 1961, she played the role of Haxel in the opera Hansel and Gretel staged by Feridun Altuna. On February 12, 1963, she made her 30th artistic jubilee with the role of "Azucena" in Verdi's opera Il trovatore.

Due to staffing problems at the State Opera and Ballet, Berksoy focused on theater in the 1960s and joined the staff of the State Theaters. In 1961, she played the role of Ziba Usta in Musahipzade Celal's play "Macun Hokkası" at the Third Theater, Feraset Bacı in the operetta İstanbul Efendisi, and Şehriban in Haldun Taner's play "Dışarıdakiler". She starred in Turgut Özakman's Kaneviçe and Refik Erduran's Karayar Bridge. She played the roles of Sister Amelya in William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, Frosine in Molière's Cimri, and Tituba in Arthur Miller's The Witch's Cauldron. In the 1963 season, for her 30th artistic jubilee, she wanted to do it with opera and she again became an "opera singer". After her jubilee with the role of "Azucena" in the opera Il trovatore, she continued to act in theater plays.

In 1964, with the special permission of the State Theater, she played the role of "Şerif Abla" in Haldun Taner's Keşanlı Ali Destanı (Keşanlı Ali Epic) at the Gülriz Sururi-Engin Cezzar Theater. In 1966, as a result of the change in the Personnel Law of the Ankara State Opera and Ballet in 1966, she received the title of "primadonna" in the opera. In 1968, she appeared on stage for the first time with her daughter Zeliha Berksoy. In the play Vasfiye How to Save Vasfiye, she acted with her daughter, who was the artistic director of Bakırköy Municipal Theater at the time. She played a small role in the first staging of Nazım Hikmet's play Ivan Ivanovich Was There or Was There Not? He retired in 1972,

Berksoy appeared on stage again at the age of 92 when the operetta Bu Bir Rüyadır (This is a Dream) was restaged due to UNESCO's declaration of 2002 as the year of Nazım Hikmet. In this play, her bed sheet paintings were used as decor.

Berksoy devoted a great deal of time to painting in the 1960s. In 1961, she participated in the State Painting and Sculpture Exhibition at the Faculty of Language and History-Geography in Ankara with her paintings "The House in Bursa where Fatih was born" and "Green Mosque" and received an award. In 1969, he exhibited his paintings at the Lutzovhaus painting exhibition in Berlin and in 1972 in Paris.

She held her first painting exhibition in Turkey in 1974 at the Ankara State Painting and Sculpture Gallery. In 1975, after losing her husband Ercüment Siyavuşgil, she went into seclusion for ten years. One day, in order to overcome her fear of old age and death, the artist worked on giving the sound of C and said, "I gave the sound of C, I defeated death." She returned to painting, singing songs and writing her memoirs. In 1982, she opened an exhibition at the Atatürk Cultural Center Grand Hall (1982). In 1984, the 50th anniversary of Turkish Women's Suffrage, the Presidency of the Turkish National Assembly awarded Berksoy the "Atatürk Opera Award" with the title of "The First Female Opera Artist". His paintings were exhibited in Leningrad and Moscow in 1985 with the support of Mesut Iktu, Director of Istanbul State Opera and Ballet.

In 1992, she painted intensively and held an exhibition at Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall (1992). Berksoy lived in the Pamir Apartment in the Ayaspaşa neighborhood, and in 1993 she began to organize a room in this house with objects that had stories. She placed objects that were meaningful to her (photographs, letters, clothes, paintings...) in this room. "Semiha Berksoy's Room" was included in the permanent collection of Mimar Sinan University Painting and Sculpture Museum.

In 1995, Berksoy participated in the international exhibition "All Fann- Die Kunst" in New York and Hann Munden, Germany. In 1996, she realized the project "Kutluğ Ataman's Semiha b. Unplugged" under the direction of Kutluğ Ataman. This project was a video installation about Berksoy's life and her perception of life. In the 6.5 hour long video, Berksoy interpreted her life in the room of her own house. In 1997, Berksoy's paintings and the video were included in the Istanbul Biennial, whose main theme was "Life, Beauty, Translations/Translations and other Challenges". Subsequently, the video was shown in Milan, Berlin, Luxembourg, Montreal and other cities and attracted great attention.

Berksoy was awarded the title of State Artist in 1998. In 1999, she sang opera in Robert Wilson's opera The Days Before: Death, Destruction and Detroit III at Lincoln Center in New York.

In 2000, she participated in the "Zeitwenden 2000 Millennium" exhibition, which brought together the most important artists of the century at the "Kunst Museum Bonn" in Vienna and became the first Turkish painter to participate in this exhibition. She was honored with the first prize with her work titled "Semiha Berksoy Room".

In 2003, she participated in the "Blut- Honig" exhibition at the Samlung Essel Modern Museum in Vienna and exhibited her recent paintings. She opened the "Semiha Berksoy Retrospective Exhibition" at İş Sanat Kibele Art Gallery. Berksoy presented her portrait of Wagner to the Bayreuth Festival in 2004.

The artist died on August 15, 2004 at the age of 94. He was buried in Istanbul.