Afife Jale

Afife Jale — Biography

Afife Jale was born in 1902 in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul, the daughter of Hidayet Bey and his wife Metiye Hanım; she had a sister, Behiye, and a brother, Salâh. After studying at the Ottoman School of Fine Arts for Girls, she stepped onto the stage, taking on the role of Emel under the stage name "Jale" in Hüseyin Suat's play Yamalar, performed at the Apollon Theatre in Kadıköy.

With that performance she became the first Muslim Turkish woman to appear on a Turkish theatre stage, and despite the social pressures of her era she went on to be remembered as a symbol of women's entry into the performing arts. Her personal life is also associated with her closeness to the noted composer Selahattin Pınar, and in the years following her stage career she fell into hardship and poverty.

She died in Istanbul on July 24, 1941, and was buried in a paupers' cemetery, with only a handful of people attending her funeral. In her memory, the Yapı Kredi Afife Theatre Awards are presented annually in Turkey to honor theatre artists, carrying her name to this day.