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THE LATE FATMA SIDKEY KRAVICH
Country: United States of America
Fatma Nermin Sidkey Kravich was born in Istanbul, Turkey on May 28, 1903 to Mustafa and Nadere Sidkey.
When Fatma was a small child, her father, a bank inspector in the Ottoman empire, was posted to Beirut.
Fatma, the eldest of three children was the apple of her father’s eye. At a time when women and female
children were seldom exposed to outsiders, Fatma went everwhere with her father; to the office and to the
coffee houses to meet with his friends. She was outgoing, daring and, at times, her antics were
outrageous, considering the times.
When Fatma’s beloved father died at the end of World War I, her family moved back to Turkey. Her mother
remarried and the family moved to the United States when Fatma was sixteen. She began her lifetime
public service by touring Detroit and Chicago, seeking funds for the Turkish Red Crescent Society to help
the victims of a severe earthquake in Turkey. On one of these tours she met John Ahmet Kravich. He
immediately knew this was “the one” and convinced her to marry him. They lived in Chicago and had three
children, Arif, Edib and Bedia.
Fatma was very active in the Turkish community and also with cultural activities in Chicago.
She represented Turkey in the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair and the Chicago Automobile Show. She was an
honorary member of the Chicago Business & Professional Women’s Association, where she was delighted to
meet the visiting Eleanor Roosevelt.
The family moved to Los Angeles in 1944 and found there were just a few Turkish people living there; in
an effort to organize and help each other, a Turkish club was formed and Fatma became the founding
president. During the years she held office, she entertained many visiting Turkish officials, friends of
Turkey, as well as many homesick Turkish students.
In 1973 Fatma and Ahmet moved to Seattle, Washington to be closer to their daughter and they spent their
remaining years there.
In 1986 Fatma was honored by the Turkish Club of Los Angeles for her past service.
Fatma Sidkey Kravich passed away September 1, 1998.
Sema Karaoglu |
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