Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Full Name: Mustafa Kemal
Profession: President and Founder of the Republic of Turkey

Nationality:

Biography: Atatürk was instrumental in creating the modern Turkish state. A major figure in the fight for independence he became the Republics' first President and went on to reform many institutions.

Atatürk rose to prominence through the Ottoman army and successfully repelled the allied forces during the Gallipoli campaign in WWI.

After the war, Atatürk was a key figure in the country's independence movement, resisting allied attempts to impose their settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne. In 1921 he established a provisional government in Ankara and got the Caliphate abolished the next year. In 1923 Turkey was declared a Republic and Atatürk its first President.

Until his death in 1938 Atatürk sought to modernize Turkey and its institutions. Much of Turkish society was securalized, education made widely available, women's rights strengthened, and the Latin alphabet adopted.

Born: May 19, 1881
Birthplace: Salonica, Ottoman Empire
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: November 10, 1938 (aged 57)
Cause of Death: Cirrhosis of the Liver