Fesa Evrensev | |
|---|---|
 Evrensev in 1911 | |
| Born | 1878 (1878) Gedikpaşa,Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 9 April 1951(1951-04-09) (aged 72–73) Istanbul, Turkey |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |
|
| Service | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Other work | Member of theTurkish Aeronautical Association |
Mehmet Fesa Evrensev (1878 – 9 April 1951) was aTurkish aircraft pilot and aviator, known as the firstOttoman pilot and firstgeneral manager of theTurkish State Airline. Evrensev graduated from theTurkish Military Academy in 1899 as alieutenant and spent his early military career in thecavalry. In 1911, following a series of exams, Evrensev andYusuf Kenan Bey were selected to become the first pilots of theOttoman Army. They were sent to theBlériot Aéronautique flight school on 9 July and completed their training in February and March 1912, respectively. When they returned, the army had started setting up its own flight school, in which they would be the first instructors. During the opening day of the school on 26 April, Evrensev made his first flight as a certified pilot, becoming the first Turk to do so. During theBalkan Wars, Evrensev was active inThrace, conducting reconnaissance flights fromThessaloniki.
Evrensev was ordered to participate in theCaucasus campaign duringWorld War I, but his ship was sunk by the Russians in October 1914 and he became aprisoner of war. He was imprisoned in a camp inSiberia, from which he escaped in 1917, making his way toMoscow aboard freight trains. He returned to the Ottoman Empire in 1920 after encountering a group of Turkish soldiers there. During theTurkish War of Independence, he served on the Western front. He retired from the military in 1925 and later became the first general manager of the Turkish State Airline. In 1942, he joined theTurkish Aeronautical Association. After suffering from health problems such astuberculosis originating in the poor conditions in the Russian camp, Evrensev died on 9 April 1951. 26 April was designated World Pilots' Day in 2014 in honour of his first flight. The date was already recognized as Pilot's Day by the Turkish Airline Pilots Association in 2000.
Mehmet FesaBey[a] was born in 1878 in Gedikpaşa,Istanbul, Ottoman Empire.[1] After finishing his primary education in Istanbul,[2] he attended theGalatasaray High School in 1887 for ten years and switched to theTurkish Military Academy in 1897. He graduated two years later in 1899 as alieutenant in thecavalry.[3]
Evrensev married Gül Hanım beforeWorld War I and had two children. In 1922, he married Hatice Sabiha Hanım and had four daughters.[4]
In addition to Turkish and English, he was also a fluent speaker of French, Greek and Arabic.[5]
Following his graduation, Evrensev was sent to theDavutpaşa Barracks in Istanbul, which was determined by lot.[3] While in the cavalry, he spent 97 days in jail and was later sent toErzincan inexile.[why?] Following the start of theSecond Constitutional Era in 1908, Evrensev was pardoned and returned to the cavalry in Istanbul as the commander of the fifthcompany in the firstregiment.[6][7] He spent the first ten years in the military as a regular lieutenant in several missions and was later promoted to acaptain.[2][8]
In February 1911, theOttoman Army announced that it would send two people to a European flight school.[8] The two pilots would be decided by a series of exams. The first exam was taken by 80 people, with number of attendees decreasing after every exam. Ten took the final one;[9] Evrensev andSenior Lieutenant Yusuf Kenan Bey got the two highest scores, 92 and 91, respectively. The two went through a medical check and were cleared to be sent abroad. The army initially wanted to send them to Germany, but due to France having more advanced technology at the time and lower costs, they were sent to the flight school ofBlériot Aéronautique on 9 July.[10]
Evrensev completed his training on 19 February 1912 and became the first licensed Turkish pilot. Yusuf Kenan completed his training a month later. Around the same time, the army planned to open its own flight school, for which it bought two aircraft.[11] In March, Evrensev and Kenan Bey were requested to return to Istanbul by alieutenant colonel to take delivery of these aircraft, which they did on 20 April. The two became the first instructors of the school. The aircraft were moved toSan Stefano. British pilotCharles Gordon Bell came to Istanbul to attend a ceremony at the school with hisR.E.P. airplane. On the morning of 26 April, Bell flew several times in front of high-ranking Ottoman officers, including a flight over theSea of Marmara. Later that day, Evrensev made his own flight with aDeperdussin airplane, the first flight by a certified Turkish pilot.[12]
When theBalkan Wars started in October 1912, Evrensev was still an instructor at the flight school.[13] A crew consisting of some Ottoman and French pilots and technicians—including Evrensev—were sent toThessaloniki by train, arriving on 14 October.[14] The Balkan Wars were the first time the Ottoman Army used aircraft in combat, with Evrensev and his crew conducting many reconnaissance flights overThrace.[15] After the Greek Army advanced into the city, the crew burnt its aircraft to deny their use to the Greeks and hid in the homes of Turks living in the area.[14] Evrensev escaped toİzmir on a ferry and later returned to Istanbul.[16] He made another reconnaissance flight on 22 February 1913 as part of theSecond Battle of Çatalca.[17] Evrensev was the commander of the air corps in Thrace. Throughout July, he was involved in a series of flights around the area, most notably assisting in theliberation of Edirne.[18] Following the war, he was part of the first Ottomanformation flight on 13 November from Istanbul toEdirne.[16]
Evrensev was sent to participate in theCaucasus campaign duringWorld War I. The ship he boarded was sunk by the Russians on 24 October 1914 off the coast ofAmasra in theBlack Sea. He was made aprisoner of war and subsequently sent to camp inSiberia. While in the camp, he taught people to make clothes fromcalico that was used to send supplies.[15] He was trusted by the guards and was allowed to be the personal driver of a Russian general.[19] Aided by the chaos created in the country due to theOctober Revolution, he escaped in 1917. Evrensev made his way toMoscow by riding freight trains. Whilebegging at theRed Square, he spotted a group of Turkish soldiers, whom he identified by their clothes. Upon identifying himself, the commander of the group told Evrensev that he was presumed to have died.[20]
He stayed with the group for three weeks.[20] When the group was working on returning some of its equipment to the Ottoman Empire, Evrensev said that he could travel across the Black Sea aboard ataka if he was allowed to go toCrimea. He managed to convince the commander and sailed across the sea alone in a small taka. He arrived atTrabzon on 14 June 1920. After he recounted his story to a commander, he was restored to his former rank of captain.[21] During theTurkish War of Independence, he was stationed at the Western front, and was later promoted tomajor during the war.[22]
Evrensev was a part of the group that included aviation pioneerVecihi Hürkuş that was asked to tour Europe to study European aviation. They left İzmir on a ferry on 20 December 1923 and arrived inMarseille, France, eight days later. They first visited the factory ofChantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine and later other factories, as well as a return to Blériot Aéronautique.[23] They left the country in February for Italy, and traveled to Germany that same month.[24] The group toured Great Britain from March to May, during which Evrensev also met a British general that he had known from his time at the flight school in France.[25] He continued to be an inspector and instructor in the Air Force in İzmir until his retirement from the military on 18 November 1925 as a major.[7]
From 1925 to 1933, Evrensev worked in the Air ForceUndersecretary.[21][clarification needed] In the early 1930s, he was involved in the creation of the first Turkish airline, the Turkish State Airline, present-dayTurkish Airlines.[26] He was appointed as the firstgeneral manager of the airline on 3 June 1933, a position which he held until 13 June 1934.[27][28] He joined theTurkish Aeronautical Association in 1942 and served as a translator for Polish and Russian technicians in the association as well as its foreign visitors.[22]
Evrensev's health worsened in the final ten years of his life, mainly due to the poor conditions he was subjected to in the Siberian camp. In 1943, he was diagnosed with lungtuberculosis and spent three months in theHeybeliada sanatorium. In September 1947, he was treated at a military hospital due to symptoms such as fatigue and coughing, and was put on leave for three months. He retired from the Turkish Aeronautical Association in 1950.[5] Mehmet Fesa Evrensev died on 9 April 1951 and was buried at theKaracaahmet Cemetery.[21]
Evrensev was a recipient of the silverLiakat Medal, theMedal of Independence and the Fifth ClassOrder of the Medjidie for his service in the military.[21][22]
In 2000, the Turkish Airline Pilots Association designated 26 April as Pilot's Day in honour of the first flight by Evrensev.[21] That year, it was celebrated by the Turkish Air Force.[21] In 2013, theInternational Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations decided to create a World Pilots' Day, and picked 26 April because it was "a day that saw a prominent figure in aviation history taking to the sky for the first time".[29] Since 2014, the World Pilots' Day has been celebrated internationally on 26 April.[29]