Abstract:

Mithat Kiper (Adana 1917-Ankara 1995) was a first-year student at the School of Pharmacy of the Istanbul University when Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, passed away on November 10th, 1938. He was enrolled in the previous year, but had to repeat the term. Mithat had been keeping a diary since his teens; his eighth note-book covers the years 1938-1939 and relates daily life at school and in the city. Mithat Kiper graduated in 1941. He completed his military service, and entered the Refik Saydam Institute for Hygiene, in Ankara. He specialized in biochemistry and nutritional chemistry at the same institution, where he was to work for the next 40 years until his retirement. M. Kiper published numerous articles in the Turkish Journal of Hygiene and Experimental Biology. Kiper's diary on November 9th reads: "Fine weather, skipped classes in military instruction. Sad news again: Ataturk's health has deteriorated. This is what concerns me most. I only wish he could recover from the dreadful disease he’s been suffering for months, because the Turkish nation needs him dearly. He should survive. I pray to God to grant him recovery. At night I went to the Azak cinema, 20 pounds... Two movies were on show: Andalusische Nächte and Street singers [Josette]. The first lines of Mithat Kiper's diary on the 10th of November are: "Greatest loss, deepest sorrow." He goes on to write for pages, of his grief and ponderings for Alicante. His words are, undoubtedly, the sincere and personal feelings of a young man who came of age with the “Father of the Turks.

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