The Undergraduate Period of Remziye Reşid (Remziye Hisar), One of the First Woman Chemists of the Republic of Turkey, at Paris Sorbonne University (1925-1928)
Remziye Hisar was among the pioneering women of the Republican era who obtained both her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in Europe. Her first experience abroad as a student was an undergraduate degree in chemistry at the Sorbonne University of Paris, Faculty of Science. Upon her arrival in Paris in 1924, she tried to get the requisite mathematical knowledge for chemistry and to attend the courses offered at the Faculty of Science. Remziye Reşid, as then known, had wanted to study science at a European university since her days as a teacher. Her initiatives for this purpose yielded results some time after she arrived in Paris. At the beginning of 1925, she became one of the students supported by the Ministry of Education with a half allocation. In October of the same year, she was awarded a full scholarship. Remziye Reşid completed her undergraduate studies between 1925 and 1928 with certificates in applied chemistry, general chemistry, and biochemistry. From 1928 onwards, she started to prepare for the general physics certificate with the aim of obtaining a doctorate, but returned home in 1929/1930 without completing it. After her husband, Ahmed Reşid Süreyya (Gürsey), returned to Istanbul in 1925, Remziye Reşid lived with her daughter Deha, who was born there, her sister Fatma Güzide, who came to Paris in 1925, and her son Feza during most of her student years. This article attempts to explain her academic, personal, and family life from her first arrival in Paris until the end of 1928 in the light of new findings. The primary source of the study is the documents in the Republican Archive.
Cumhuriyetin İlk Kadın Kimyacılarından Remziye Reşid’in (Remziye Hisar) Paris Sorbonne Üniversitesindeki Lisans Dönemi (1925-1928)
Remziye Hisar, Cumhuriyetin ilanından sonra lisans ve doktorasını Avrupa’da yapan ilk kadınlardandır. Öğrenci olarak yurtdışındaki ilk deneyimi Paris Sorbonne Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi’nde tamamladığı kimya lisansıdır. 1924’te Paris’e gelişinden itibaren fen bilimleri için gerekli matematik alt yapısını edinmeye ve Fen Fakültesindeki dersleri takip etmeye çalışmıştır. O zamanki tam adıyla Emine Remziye Reşid bir Avrupa üniversitesinde bilim okumayı öğretmenlik yaptığı günlerden beri istemekteydi. Bu yöndeki girişimleri Paris’e geldikten bir süre sonra sonuç vermiş ve 1925 senesi başında Maarif Vekâletinin yarım tahsisatla desteklediği talebelerinden olmuştur. Aynı senenin Ekim ayında ise tam tahsisatlı asıl talebelik hakkını kazanmıştır. Remziye Reşid 1925-1928 arasında aldığı tatbiki kimya, umumi kimya ve biyokimya sertifikaları ile lisansını tamamlamıştır. 1928’den itibaren doktora hedefiyle genel fizik sertifikası için hazırlanmaya başlamış, ancak doktorayı tamamlayamadan 1929/1930’da yurda dönmüştür. Eşi Ahmed Reşid Süreyya (Gürsey) 1925’te İstanbul’a döndükten sonra Remziye Reşid öğrenciliğinin büyük kısmında orada doğan kızı Deha, 1925’te Paris’e gelen kız kardeşi Fatma Güzide ve oğlu Feza ile birlikte yaşamıştır. Bu yazı, onun Paris’e ilk gelişinden 1928 sonuna kadar olan süredeki akademik, kişisel ve ailevi yaşamını yeni bulgular ışığında açıklamaya çalışmaktadır. Çalışmanın ana kaynağı Cumhuriyet Arşivindeki evraklardır.
Remziye Hisar was among the first women in the Republican era to receive her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in Europe. The most well-known feature of her scientific background is that she was among the first women to obtain a PHD in chemistry in Europe during the post-Republic era. Her undergraduate education in Europe constitutes a part of her academic biography, whose details are not well known. Remziye Reşid, named after Reşid Süreyya, to whom she was married at the time, made her first application to study abroad as a scholarship student in 1924. During her tenure as a teacher at the Adana Darülmuallimat (Girls’ Teacher Training School), which lasted until 1924, her request was denied due to the absence of funding in that year’s budget. Thereupon, Remziye Reşid arrived in Paris in August 1924 -either resigned or on medical leave- and began her studies in natural sciences and mathematics, which she had wanted to pursue for a long time.
In the four years between her arrival in Paris and the receipt of her certificate in Biochemistry in June 1928, she successfully completed the certification examinations necessary to obtain a license in chemistry. The first year and a half of these four years of academic activity was spent in an effort to become a fully supported main student of the Ministry. However, during her stay in Paris, she was plagued by economic difficulties. Her letters to the Ministry of National Education and the student inspectorate show that her salary and expense allocations were not enough for her education and daily needs.
She was accepted as a supported student by the Ministry of National Education in February 1925, and eight months later, in October of the same year, she was accepted as a main student. Positive opinions about Remziye Reşid’s hard work and seriousness were influential in giving her full support. In February 1925, she enrolled in the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne University of Paris as a supported student of the Ministry. However, the difficulties of being unprepared to study chemistry here prolonged her education process. The most important shortcoming was that she had not studied the mathematics-based preparatory phase required to study science according to the French system. She started chemistry without going through the preparatory stages called mathematiques élémentaires and mathematiques spéciales. To compensate for this, she focused on studying mathematics from the time she arrived in Paris. She sent her work entitled Riyaziyat Mefhumları, the product of her mathematical study, to the Ministry of National Education for publication. The value of the work was appreciated, but it was not deemed suitable for publication by the Ministry.
The first goal of Remziye Reşid’s chemistry education was to obtain certificates in applied and general chemistry. However, the bad grades she received until October 1927 did not lead to a good impression for the Ministry. She did not take the exams before this date, and did not pass the exams she took. This was influential in the Ministry’s decision to stop her education and repatriate her to Turkey at the end of 1927. Throughout her education, Remziye Reşid tried to draw attention to the fact that the most important thing was her hard work and diligence. At the end of 1927, the decision to send her back was changed as a result of her passing the exams with honors, and her education period was extended. In June 1928, she passed the Biochemistry certificate exam with a high score and continued her further studies within the scope of her doctorate. In 1928, she continued to study for her next goal, a certificate in General Physics.
Documents related to Remziye Reşid’s undergraduate period in Paris were obtained from the Presidential Republican Archives. By utilizing archival sources, it is possible to elaborate, correct, and make the limited information in the existing literature more comprehensible about the period covered in Remziye Reşid’s academic biography. The last archival record of Remziye Reşid is her petition in December 1928 asking for the books she needed. In 1929, it is estimated that she returned to Turkey at the end of the year after receiving her general physics certificate. Her ongoing doctoral studies were also interrupted for this reason.
Remziye Reşid lived with her daughter Deha, who was born in Paris in 1924, her sister Güzide, who came to Paris from Istanbul in 1925, and her son Feza, and assumed the responsibilities of both a student and a caregiver for her family. This circumstance added to the financial difficulties she had to overcome. Her letter-form petitions to the authorities and their responses reflect her persistent and passionate personality. She overcame the academic and economic difficulties she faced with her desire to study. This desire and will to succeed is the driving force behind her courage to report and explain even when she receives low grades.
