SÜREYYA AĞAOĞLU
1903
She was born in Azerbaijan. Her father, Ahmet Ağaoğlu was a thinker, writer, politician and law professor and a friend of Atatürk in both war and politics.
1910
She moved with her parents to Türkiye.
1920
She graduated from Istanbul All Girls' High School.
1921
She applied to the Department of Law in Istanbul University. However women were not allowed to study law in those years so her application was rejected. Ağaoğlu rejected this decision and by convincing 3 of her girlfriends to study law, she made the management change their decision. Thus, thanks to Süreyya Ağaoğlu, girls were enrolled in the law department for the first time.
1927
She was called to the Bar in Ankara.
1928
Receiving her licence to practice law, she became the first female lawyer of Türkiye.
1945
She worked for five years as a Turkish Legal Counsellor at Edwards-Edwards Law Firm in London.
1946
For her initiative, Istanbul Bar Association was elected a member of the international Bar Association.
1946 - 1960
She was the only female board member of the international Bar Association.
1949
She founded Süreyya Ağaoğlu Friends of Children Society.
1950
She founded the Turkish offices of “Association of University Women” and “Soroptomist International”. She was also a co-founder of many nongovernmental organizations including Turkish Female Lawyers Association, Free Thought Association, Association for Turkish-American University People.
1952
She became a member to the International Federation of Female Lawyers.
1960
She was selected as the representative of Federation of Female Lawyers at the United Nations Office at Geneva.
1989
Author of two books What I Saw in London (Londra'da Gördüklerim) and One Life Has Passed Just Like This (Bir Hayat Böyle Geçti), Süreyya Ağaoğlu died smoothing the way for women to study law...
