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COPYRIGHT 2002 Eastern Mediterranean University
Abstract
The professional achievement of women is very important in the development of the Turkish Cypriot society. The role of the first women teachers in the progress of education system held an important share in the trend of modernization of the society. The first half of the 20th century for Cyprus was a period of struggle to gain independence and retain its national identity under difficult conditions both economically and politically. The presence of specialist women in every occupational field could not be achieved prior to the 1950s. The achievements can he performed only in an environment that offers a rich educational background. During the periods that lacked this essential educational system for female students on the island under the British Rule, young scholars training to be teachers made the best of every opportunity and knowledge they acquired from the educators, mainly non-natives to improve themselves. This paper will introduce the reader to one of these women who is the first Turkish art teacher in Cyprus. Our attempts to discover more about the life of this first woman art teacher led to Mevhibe Sefik. She is, in fact, remembered today not only as an art teacher but also as the first female typing instructor and stage designer.
Keywords: Mevhibe Sevik, Cyprus, Turkish woman, artists, theatre, art teacher, secondary education, girls's schools, art education.
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A Society in an Attempt to Modernize and Art Education
Initiation of art lessons within the curriculum of the secondary schools is important for the development of contemporary art as it is in the case of modernization of the Turkish Cypriot society. It is believed that determining the share of the women art teachers alongside the artists for this evolution, plus writing their biographies would contribute to enlighten the social history of the Turkish Cypriot society.
The opening of the first girls' school in comparison with the world standard and even with the large provinces of the Ottoman Empire come rather late to Cyprus. The first primary school for the girls was opened in 1888 (Behcet, 1969, p. 65) while the secondary school called Victoria Inas Industrial School was opened in 1902. (Dedecay, 1985, pp. 10-11) The history of the art lessons in the secondary schools' curriculum is dating back to 1925s. Hitherto, in the case of Turkish woman art teachers, began in the early 1940s. The following names of early art teachers, encountered in the course of a research for the evolution of western art in the Turkish society in Cyprus, are cited without making any gender or nationality difference: Ahmet Rifat Efendi, (An, 2002, p. 413) Ahmet Burhanettin (Nesim, 1987, p.21; Feridun, c. 2000, p.21), Ismet Guney in Idadi School (later called Islam Lycee), Miss Serra (Nesim, 1987, p. 270), Seref Bey, Mrs. Maxwell, Mrs. Stone, Mrs. Hill, Mrs. Megaw and Mevhibe Sefik in Victoria Girls' School), (1) and Mr. Diamantis in Teachers' Training School established in 1937 (Feridun, c. 2000, p. 47).
Mevhibe Sefik was the first Turkish Cypriot art teacher in Victoria Girls' School. This was the only secondary school that gave the highest level of education to the Turkish girls in the island until 1950s. After that time, its curriculum was developed to include high school teaching as well. Mevhibe Sefik is, in fact, a graduate of this school and had no further academic education but had her special training by the English art teachers working temporarily in the school. She is the unforgettable teacher of many talented Turkish artists nowadays working in North Cyprus, and is well remembered as the first woman teacher to teach 'touch system' typing.
Our efforts to research the evolution of painting art as well as art lessons in the Turkish Cypriot Schools' curriculum resulted with little information published on the subject. However, personal talks with some artists as well as newspaper interviews revealed the name of Mevhibe Sefik as an art teacher, which led us to research the girls' secondary school education in the 1940s and 1950s. We could say that Mevhibe Sefik was the second art teacher working in the Turkish secondary schools; the first one being Burhanettin Efendi, the kadi teaching painting courses in Islam Lycee starting from 1926 (Behcet, 1969, p. 128) and who owes his painting activity to his father's military education in England. (Balikcioglu, 2000, p. 91) It was disappointing not to discover the names of both art teachers in Batmayan Egitim Guneslerimiz (Our Immortal Heroes of Education) published by Ali Nesim. However further research justified this missing information in the case of Mevhibe Sefik as the author was unaware of the fact that she was the first Turkish woman painter as that she was his colleague during his teaching years in Nicosia Turkish Girls' Lycee. Ali Nesim did not consider this teacher to belong to the old generation as she worked until her obligatory retirement age during the time he collected information for his book. Another reason for the lock of information about Mevhibe Sefik is also due to the neglect to consider art as an important lesson in the school's curriculum. Art courses were usually important for the preparation of annual sport and evening entertaintments that were held at the end of each school year. The art teachers were never acknowledged in the success of schools and their students. Although politicians are also making advantage of such occasions to deliver speech for their own publicity at least once in their missions they had never cited any of these occasions in their memoirs published in later life.
It is regrettable that there are no references to Mevhibe Sefik in recent publications except one interview in a daily newspaper, which has led us to write a short biography about her. This biography is compiled from personal interviews with her, from ones with some contemporary women artists, as well as a research from newspapers from 1945-1955. This research has enlightened us about her personality as an art teacher and also her contribution to the cultural acitivities of her time with her theatre stage decorations.
The Life Story of Mevhibe Sefik
Mevhibe Sefik was born in the so-called Nuri Efendi Street then in Nicosia on 9th April 1923. Her father, Huseyin Haci Mustafa was the son of a family renowned as Sekerciler (sugar makers) of Nicosia who were originally from one of the Arabic countries. He was a shoemaker. Her mother, Naciye was one of eight daughters of a family known as Barutcular (gunpowder makers) and she was a housewife. Mevhibe was the second daughter of the couple, who had three daughters. She describes the house in Mahmut Pasa Quarter of Nicosia so called even today as being large. Members of her mother's family, her uncles, aunts, their wives, husbands and children all lived together in several rooms of the house. Eventually each unit of this large family then left this house to establish their own private houses. Her uncle, Hasan Kemal, with an active social background was the most important member of the family to continue close relations with her parents, which also affected Mevhibe's life. (Kav, 1994 February, p. 20)
Mevhibe started her education when she was four years old in the kindergarten of Rahime Hanim. She then attended Ayasofya Girls' School for five years. Muhterem Hanim, (2) one of her teachers, instructed her in painting as she had noticed Mevhibe's talent in art, during her primary school years. Mevhibe Sefik then continued her education in Victoria Girls' School as a bursary student in 1933-34. The duration of the school was increased from five years to eight in the same year. She was transferred to the third year after her successful completion of the first year and then she graduated in 1939. (3) Although Victoria was classified as a secondary school, it was based on a college education. The curriculum of the school was changed in 1935, which resulted with 50 per cent of the courses being in English to enable the graduates to take English Ordinary and Distinction exams as requirements to become primary school teachers (Dedecay, 1985, p. 18). The headmistress of the school during her first year was Mevhibe Hikmet from Turkey. However with all the curriculum changes, English women teachers were then appointed as the directors, which lasted until 1952. Miss Bullen was the first of these English directors. After her death Miss Stone was appointed as the acting headmistress and then Miss Stapley worked as the headmistress for several years (Dedecay, 1985, p. 23).
Mevhibe Sefik was a successful student during her education. Besides her hard working characters, she was also an active student taking part in several extra curricular activities. She was a successful player in the volleyball team of her school and also took leading roles in theatre plays. She was a well mannered girl who had a close social life, particularly for the females in those days. Although she was a well-mannered, obedient student, she defended her rights for misbehaviour and unjust treatments. For example, she tells one teacher instructing embroidery making treating her students differently. She used to give each student a piece of cloth she had cut and they were expected to complete a pattern within one week, while scholar students were required to complete two pieces every week. In one case, she was quiet when one of the girls coming from a well off family did not perform her work, but she criticised the sewing of the edges of the completed embroidery made by Mevhibe. As Mevhibe tried to tell her that this was because of her cutting style, the instructor started shouting and she reacted with a hysterical crying. Another teacher upon hearing the shouting and crying came in and took her out of the class. She only stopped crying after a doctor came. She confessed in later years that her hysterical crying and shouting that panicked everybody in the school was in fact, an act to take her grudge against the instructor for her unjust treatment. (Kav, 1994 Subat, p. 20) This first piece of acting was the beginning of her success as a theatre player.
Mevhibe Sefik graduated from Victoria Girls' School in 1939-40 with a certificate of Teachers' Training Course. Mrs. Megaw, the English art teacher of the school, encouraged her to improve her painting ability by offering her and two other girls from her class training in painting and calligraphy. The rest of Mevhibe Sefik's life was shaped by this offer and she worked as a teacher for almost 43 years without any break in the same school. Mevhibe Sefik got married in 1951 and continued her life happily as a spouse and a mother. Mevhibe Sefik retired from her teaching career in 1983. The Association of Turkish Cypriot Women awarded her with the title of "The Teacher of the Year" on Mother's Day in 1984. (Nesim, 1987, p. 426) Many women art teachers currently acknowledge her as their first instructor in art and the person to encourage them to select art as their profession.
Mevhibe Sefik's Training as an Art Teacher
Mevhibe Sefik had her first instructions in art from Muhterem Hanim, her primary school teacher who noticed her talent in painting. Seref Bey, her first art teacher in Victoria Girls' School also encouraged her to improve her talent. He talked to her father about her skill in painting as hd Muhterem Hanim previously. Seref Bey, a teacher from Turkey, taught her only for one year. Although nothing much is left in Mevhibe Sefik's memory about him, a newspaper article refers to the arrival of Seref Beyas o well talented artist and calligrapher from Turkey in the first week of June 1932 who came to work in the Industry Hall of Haci Sadik Efendi (Soz, 1932 June, p. 2). Seref Bey, the painter, is also mentioned as taking part as the Master in the play called Coban (Shepherd) in January 1935, the first play that included female girl actresses (Ersoy, 1998, p. 37).
Mevhibe Sefik had different art teachers in her secondary school education. She recalls the names of Mrs. Maxwell, Mrs. Winder (Wonders?) and Mrs Megaw. Mrs. Megaw, played an important role in Mevhibe Sefik's life. She owes her career to her special attention and training as well as encouragement for her to become an art teacher. This highly spoken of woman art teacher is, in fact, Electra Megaw, the wife of A. H. Megaw, who was the director of the Department of Antiquities in the 1930s and 1940s. Elektra Megaw is an Albanian artist who usually painted botanical watercolour paintings (Severis, 2000, pp. 241, 243, 246: fig. 319). According to Mevhibe Sefik, she left the island during the First World War, but came back and exhibited in the Pancyprian Art Exhibition in 1947 (Severis, 2000, p. 241).
Mevhibe Sefik graduated from Victoria Girls' School in 1939-40 after completing the eight class in seven years. (4) However she had to wait for her future career for another year, but continued special training in art until she was appointed to a teaching position in Victoria in 1941.
Mevhibe Sefik's career started with the kind offer of Mrs. Megaw, who intended to train gthree girls in art so that one of them could take her place in the school while the other two could be appointed to the land registry office. Mrs. Megaw made this decision because she did not intend to stay at Victoria Girls' School for a long period. As Mevhibe Sefik remembers, Mrs. Megaw made her offer with a sincere confession that she did not find herself productive in a school where communication with the students due to language problems was difficult. In her offer to these three talented girls, she confessed that she did not know Turkish and the junior students could hardly follow her English. According to her suggestions, these girls would be instructed in art teaching as well as calligraphy in 'cut lettering' style. This calligraphy was a special writing technique, that made letters thicker as the lines were drawn downward. In those days, the land registry documents were written in this style of calligraphy. Mrs. Megaw's offer was followed with another proposal by Mrs. Stapley, the director of the school. Mevhibe was asked to consider the proposal of Mrs. Megaw and also to learn typing so that she could teach this subject as well. Mrs. Stapley even made another proposal to Mevhibe to work as a Turkish teacher as Mrs. Stapley had a good reference from her Turkish teacher who reported her Turkish was excellent. Therefore, she could be accepted as a teacher to the school if she would agree to teach Art, Typing as well as Turkish lessons. However, Mevhibe had some other choices. She also had the chance to take an official exam to be appointed as a primary school teacher. But since the primary school teachers were appointed to teach in villages in their first few years, it would have been hard work as she had to travel and stay away from her family which as a young girl she was not ready to do.
After a careful consideration of all the alternatives, Mevhibe and Sidika, her classmate...
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