This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Varlaam (talk | contribs) at 23:24, 23 June 2010. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 23:24, 23 June 2010 by Varlaam (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Nene Hatun, aka Nenehatun, (1857 - 22 May 1955) was a Turkish folk heroine, who at her age of twenty showed bravery during the recapture of Fort Aziziye in Erzurum from Russian forces at the start of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.
Leaving her three-month old baby and young son at home, she participated in the struggle when the battle started, which is known in the history of Turkey as the "The war of '93" (Template:Lang-tr) to refer the year 1293 AH in Rumi calendar. She had been living in a neighborhood of Erzurum called Aziziye that was close to an important fortification defending the city. On the night of 7 November 1877, Fort Aziziye was attacked by the Russian army, which captured it, carrying off some 500 Turkish prisoners. A Turkish counter-attack followed and the Russians were heavily defeated and forced to retreat, partly due to the actions of women volunteers from the city's civilian population. Nene Hatun was identified as being the most heroic of them all and became a symbol of bravery.
Third-party reports on the battle for Fort Aziziye shed a less-favorable light on the events and speak of terrible mutilations being inflicted on the Russian soldiers. C. B. Norman, reporter for the Daily News, recorded that
"Nearly every Russian found lying on the ground was decapitated or otherwise mangled; and the dreadful crimes appear to have been perpetrated by women from the city who, when it was seen that the Russians were defeated, issued forth with knives, hatchets, and other household weapons, to dispatch the wounded who lay gasping on the ground."
Nene Hatun (literally: grand lady) lived her entire life in Aziziye. She was named as "Mother of the Mothers" on the Mother's Day in 1955. She died of pneumonia the same year on 22 May at the age of 98 and was laid to rest in the martyrs' cemetery at Fort Aziziye. Until her death, she was also known as the "Mother of the Third Army" because of her close ties with the military personnel in her region.
There is a project about shooting a movie about the heroic life of her. The project is expected to be ready by November 2007.
Nene Hatun should not be confused with Mama Hatun who, although associated with the same geography of Erzurum, was an important figure of the 12th century Beylik of Saltuklu.
Nene Hatun in film
Nene Hatun was depicted in the 1973 Turkish movie Gazi kadin (Nene hatun) starring Türkan Şoray and Kadir İnanır.
References
- Ollier, Edmund (1878). Cassell's Illustrated History of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. London. p. 506.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - "93 Harbi'nde Nene Hatun". Tarihin Tanıkları. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
- "The Life of a Turkish Heroine On Screen". Turkish Daily News. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
- "Gazi kadin (Nene hatun) (1973)". IMDb The Internet Movie Database.