Emine Semiye Önasya

Emine Semiye Önasya (28 March 1864-1944), mostly known as Emine Semiye and Emine Vahide, was a Turkish writer, activist, and early feminist.

Emine Semiye was born in Istanbul on 28 March 1866. She was the second daughter of Ahmet Cevdet Pasha and sister of Fatma Aliye. Her mother was Adviye Rabia Hanım. Emine Semiye studied psychology and sociology in France and Switzerland for seven years. She was one of the first Ottoman Muslim women educated in Europe.

Beginning in 1882, Emine Semiye worked as a Turkish and literature teacher in Istanbul and in other provinces. She served as an inspector at girls’ schools and an assistant nurse at Şişli Etfal Hospital. Her writings on politics and education were published in the newspapers such as Mütalaa (in Thessalonica) and Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete ("Newspaper for Women" in English) after the declaration of constitutional monarchy in 1908 (see Second Constitutional Era). She also wrote a math textbook entitled Hulasa-i Ilm-i Hesap in 1893. Her most-known novels are Sefalet (1908) ("Poverty") and Gayya Kuyusu ("The Pit of Hell").

Emine Semiye, together with her older sister Fatma Aliye, was a significant figure for the Ottoman women movement. She established several charity organizations to help women. She always struggled for women's rights. She became a member of the progressive Committee of Union and Progress and later, the Ottoman Democratic Party. In 1920, she was named a member of the governing board of the Turkish Press Association, which had been called the Ottoman Press Association until that year.

Emine Semiye lived for a long time in Paris. She married twice. Her first husband was Mustafa Bey. The second was Reşit Pasha. They divorced later. She had a son, Cevdet Lagaş. She died in Istanbul in 1944.