Abstract:

One of the major deficiencies in art history and historiography is its neglect and incomplete accounting of women’s history. Nimet Vahid Hanım is one of the important female artists who’ve yet been able to gain her rightful place in art historiography. She was the first female singing instructor of the conservatory. She was also the first female opera singer. Nimet Vahid Hanım was the granddaughter of Osman Hamdi Bey, and she studied music in various European countries at an early age. The artist gave concerts in many institutions in Europe in the last years of the Ottoman Empire and returned to Turkey after the declaration of the Republic, working as a singing instructor at the conservatory. In addition to her identity as an instructor, Nimet Vahid Hanım is also a prominent name in the performing arts. She played a leading role (i.e, the Great Mother) in the opera Özsoy, Turkey’s first opera. She also helped Western music become popular by giving various concerts both on stage and on the radio. Nimet Vahid Hanım was one of the first female representatives to pioneer the development of Western music in Turkey. However, although she was an artist of many firsts, she has not been able to take the place she deserves in historiography. This article will examine the life and career of Nimet Vahid Hanım in line with the available documents.

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