Zehra Say was a Turkishpainter and first Turkish woman to be officially married under the 1926 Civil Marriage law. She is known as one of the pioneering women of Atatürk's Turkey for her modern look on women's equality. As an artist she is known for her paintings of nature, flowers and fruits. Her great love of nature reflected in her paintings as she depicted Istanbul in a different light. Her work is described as an realistic interpretation of nature. She is the mother of painter Emel Say and grandmother of pianist Fazil Say.
Life
Zehra Say was born in 1906 in Ankara as Fatma Zehra Bilgin. In 1925, she graduated from the Izmir Teacher School. After graduating from high school, she married the mathematics teacher, Fuat Say, on 18 February 1926. This was the first official wedding to, and Say therefore officially became the first Turkish woman to be married. They had two children together; Emel and Arkan Say. After she was married, she continued her education at the Istanbul Fine Arts Academy. She was educated in the atelier of Namık İsmail at the Painting Department of the academy, which she graduated from in 1929. After that, she became a painting teacher. While she was teaching painting at the İstanbul Cağaloğlu Girls' High School, she continued to study in the Decorative Arts Department of the Fine Arts Academy. She continued to teach art for 36 years, and between 1960 and 1970 went to the United States for some time to work on painting there. Say did not open an exhibition for a long time, her first exhibition was in 1982 in Istanbul at A Galeri. She later had other exhibitions as well. These include ten personal exhibitions and many mixed exhibitions. Due to Alzheimer's disease, she was not able to finish the painting titled Maui Adası. She asked her daughter, Emel Say, who finished the painting for her. At that point, Emel Say was not a painter yet, however, she finished the painting and it was displayed at an exhibition where it was spotted by the famous sculptor Gürdal Duyar, who reassured Emel that she had done a good job, which may have started her career in painting. Zehra Say died in 1990. She was the paternal grandmother of pianist Fazıl Say.
Marriage
On 18 February 1926 when she was 20 years old and was already a teacher, she married her husband Fuat Say, also a teacher. The Turkish Civil Law on marriage was passed the day before on 17 February 1926. Their marriage certificate is written in old Turkish; Atatürk would introduce the new alphabet in 1928. The witnesses to the marriage where the deputy of Bolu and owner of the Kavaklıdere wineTunalı Hilmi and the Deputy of Erzurum Mahmut Bey. This marriage is known as the first official marriage in the history of the Republic of Turkey. The article on official weddings in the new Civil Law was prepared by the first Minister of Justice of TurkeyMahmut Esat Bozkurt. The sculpture at the entrance of the Marriage Office at Izmir International Fair, depicting two doves, was erected in 2002 by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in honor of Zehra and Fuat Say for being the first officially married couple. The sculpture, which sits on a white marble foundation, is made from poured bronze and also depicts two interlocked wedding rings representing the unity of a woman and man in marriage. The sculpture was designed by the Izmir-born sculptor Bihrat Mavitan.
