Şükrü Saracoğlu

Verified Timeline

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.

In Their Own Story

The stadium was inaugurated on 17 September 1908. It was renovated between 1929 and 1932, 1965 and 1982, and finally 1999 and 2006. On 4 October 2006, after numerous inspections by UEFA, the stadium was selected to host the 2009 UEFA Cup Final, coinciding with the 101st anniversary of its opening. That final went down in history as the last Final of the UEFA Cup football tournament, which was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League starting from the 2009–10 season. A number of artworks are placed in front of the stadium: a bust of Atatürk, a statue of Lefter Küçükandonyadis, a statue of Can Bartu, a statue of Alex, and a statue of Eda Erdem.

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.

Did You Know?

• He signed the German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship in 1941.
• He was chairman of Fenerbahçe S.K. for 16 years between 1934 and 1950.
• He served as Prime Minister concurrently with his Fenerbahçe chairmanship from 1942 to 1946.
• He took the surname Saracoğlu after the 1934 Surname Law.