Afife Jale: Turkey's First Muslim stage actress

Theater enthusiasts across Turkey commemorated Afife Jale, the first Turkish Muslim stage actress in Turkish theater, 78 years after she passed away.

Born in 1902 in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, Afife adopted the stage name "Jale" leading to her recognition as Afife Jale in her later career.

Darulbedayi, known today as the Istanbul State Theater, would during this period only allow Muslim women to act for exclusively female audiences, as they would not traditionally allowed to take on theater roles.

Jale and four other female students were accepted to Darulbedayi as interns in 1918. Jale and Refika Ozbayer were the only ones to remain while the others quit due to the unpromising odds of a Muslim woman becoming becoming an actress. At the end of the year, Ozbayer was employed as prompter, while Afife became an intern actress.

When actress Eliza Binemeciyan departed from the theater in the days prior to the premier of Huseyin Suat's play Yamalar (Patches) on April 13, 1920, the managers of Darulbedayi decided to hand the role to Afife.

Jale took on her first role for Yamalar on April 22, 1920, in the Apollon Cinema in Kadikoy.

"It was the first time I was happy in my life," Jale recalled of her performance in an interview with journalist Refik Ahmet Sevengil in 1926. "I was in the beautiful drunkenness that art gives my soul.”

"Screenwriter Huseyin Suat was waiting the backstage. He stopped as I left, kissed me on the forehead and told me: 'Our stage needed an art sacrifice. You are that sacrifice.'"

- A break to short career

Afife staged her second play, Tatli Sir (Sweet Secret), in a week's time. When police tried to detain her, another actress, Kinar Sivaciyani helped her escape. In her third play, Odalik (Handmaiden), Jale was arrested. She had to quit her actress career, after the Interior Ministry of the Ottoman Empire issued a circular letter that Muslim women could not go on stage . stage anywhere.

Jale suffered from severe headaches due to these problems, becoming addicted to morphine after her doctor’s treatment. A few years later, she went on tour in Anatolia with the Burhanettin Tepsi Company. Later, she gave representations in various cities with Fikret Sadi's National Stage.

After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the new regime removed legal barriers on stage-worthy Turkish women, moreover, and facilitated support for actresses

However, Jale’s health deteriorated and she was forced to leave the theater due to her morphine addiction.

- Marriage

At a concert in 1928, Jale met Selahattin Pinar who accompanied her with his drum and the couple married in 1929. Pinar is considered to have composed many songs for Jale, including "How come I loved that cruel woman", "I understand you will not love me" and "Delicate flower".

They were divorced in 1935 due to Jale’s morphine addiction and its negative effect on their marriage.

- Death and Legacy

Jale passed away in June 24, 1941 in Bakirkoy Psychiatric Hospital in Istanbul. She was buried at Kazlicesme Cemetery.

"Remember me minding, caring and hugging; not pitying," Journalist Nezihe Araz quoted Afife Jale in her theather play, "If theater exists, I exist.”

The Afife Theater Awards have since been organized by lender Yapi Kredi in memory of the artist since 1997.