Şükrü Saracoğlu

Fifth Prime Minister of Turkey and former chairman of Fenerbahçe S.K.

via Wikipedia: Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium · see source

Mehmet Şükrü Saracoğlu (17 June 1887 – 27 December 1953) was a Turkish politician, the fifth prime minister of Turkey and the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs during the early stages of World War II. He signed the German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship in 1941. He was also the chairman of the Turkish sports club Fenerbahçe S.K. for 16 years between 1934 and 1950, including holding that post concurrently with his time as Prime Minister from 1942 to 1946.

Quick Facts

Full name: Chobani Stadyumu Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi
Nickname: Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi (UEFA competitions)
Location: Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey
Opened: 17 September 1908
Renovated: 1929–1932, 1965–1982, 1999–2006
Owner: Fenerbahçe S.K.
Tenants: Fenerbahçe S.K. (1908–present); Turkey national football team (selected matches)
Acreage: 110,304 m²

Lore & Background

Born in Ödemiş in the Ottoman Empire in 1887, Mehmet Şükrü was the son of Saraç Mehmet Tevfik Usta. He completed primary and middle school in Ödemiş and high school in İzmir İdadi in İzmir and graduated from the Istanbul School of Civil Service in 1909. He worked as an officer of attendance and mathematics teacher in İzmir High School. In 1915, he studied in the Academy of Political Sciences in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), he returned to Turkey and fought in the region of Kuşadası, Aydın, and Nazilli. He was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from İzmir in 1923. He served as Minister of National Education, presided over the Commission for Composite Population Exchange, served as Minister of Finance, was sent to the United States for economic contacts in 1931, presided over the board for the Paris Treaty of 1933 to solve the Ottoman public debt, served as Minister of Justice, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After the 1934 Surname Law, he took the surname Saracoğlu. In the closing days of World War II, he took part in negotiations with the Soviet Union in Moscow. He became Prime Minister in 1942 and resigned after the 1946 general elections. He was elected President of the Grand National Assembly in 1948 and remained until 1950.

He retired from political life in 1950, was fluent in French and English, was married, and had three children. He died on 27 December 1953.

Reader's Guide

The home of the Turkish football club Fenerbahçe, Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, is named after him. His grandchild Rüşdü Saracoğlu was an economist and politician.