Sabiha Gürayman

Sabiha Gürayman
Born	1910
Died	4 January 2003(2003-01-04) (aged 92–93)
Occupation	Engineer

Sabiha Rıfat (Ecebilge) Gürayman (1910, Manastır – 4 January 2003, İzmir) was a Turkish construction engineer and volleyball player. As Turkey's first female civil engineer, she served as chief engineer for 10 years at the construction of Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. She was the first female volleyball player of Fenerbahçe SK, and the first Turkish woman to engage in the game of volleyball.

Sabiha Rıfat (Ecebilge) Gürayman with her teammates from Fenerbahçe volleyball team in 1929.

Life[]

In 1910, she was born in Manastır (present-day Bitola). She studied at Beşiktaş Esma Sultan Primary School. In 1925, she finished Nişantaşı Girls' Middle School; then continued to Istanbul Girls' High School.^[1] In 1927, she entered the Higher Engineer's School (present-day Istanbul Technical University).^[2] She was the first female student to attend that school.

Sabiha Rıfat was involved in volleyball in university years, and was the captain of Fenerbahçe's volleyball team (1928 or 1929^[3]).

She began her career at the Ankara Public Works Directorate, then the Ministry of Public Works. Several schools in different parts of the country took part in the construction of government buildings, and the official construction of Anitkabir and the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). A photograph of Anıtkabir's headquarters in the Hürriyet Tower is exhibited during construction.^[4] The bridge was called "Girls' Bridge" by local people because of the construction of "Kemer Bridge" in the Beypazarı district of Ankara.

She died on 4 January 2003 and was buried in Doğançay Cemetery.

References[]

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