School Life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Monastir Military High School

Mustafa Kemal, at the Military Academy

by Mehmet Tahir Özyürek

Hello! In this article I will talk about the school life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

You probably know Atatürk. I will only talk about his youth and school life because this blog is not enough for his whole life :)

He was born in 1881 in Salonica (It was an Ottoman city at that time). The first school he went to was a neighborhood school that his mother wanted him to go. It was a traditional school. Then they decided to send him to a school his father chose, Şemsi Efendi Primary School.

But on the way to this school his father died and he went to live with his uncle in Lagkadas. He finished the primary school at Şemsi Efendi Primary School, then entered the Junior High School for Civil Servants. But because he wanted to be a soldier, he secretly took the exams for the Salonica Military Junior High School and succeeded in the exam. 

One day his math teacher (he was also named Mustafa) said, "Your name and my name are the same, now your name is Mustafa Kemal" and Atatürk took the name Kemal. 

He then entered the Monastir Military High School. Here he met his friend Ömer Naci. He finished high school in 1899. Then he entered the Military College in Istanbul. He graduated as a lieutenant three years later and continued his education at the Military Academy. And in 1905 he graduated from the Military Academy as a Staff Captain. His first duty station was the 5th Army in Damascus.

Later, Atatürk received the rank of Field Marshal and became one of Turkey's two marshals (the other being Marshal Fevzi Çakmak).