Bedia Muvahhit

Emine Bedia Muvahhit (1896 – 20 January 1994) was a Turkish stage and movie actress. She is remembered as one of the first Muslim movie actresses in Turkey debuting in 1923. She could speak French and Greek as foreign languages.

Bedia Muvahhit was employed in 1914 as a switchboard operator at the state-owned telephone company in Istanbul becoming one of the first Muslim women in the Ottoman Empire to work at the public service sector.

In 1921, she began to work as a teacher for French language at the Erenköy Girls High School.

She learned in one day her role of "Saride" in the play Ceza Kanunu (Criminal Law), an adaption by Ahmet Nuri Sekizinci from the 1907 French play "Vingt jours à l'ombre" by Pierre Veber and Maurice Hennequin. On July 31, 1923, just one week after the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, Bedia Muvahhit debuted on the stage before the new Turkey's leader, who congratulated her after the play. She performed then in more than 200 plays in municipal theatres.

After an acting career of more than fifty years, she retired in 1975 from the stage at the Istanbul Municipal Theatre. A bust of Muvahhit made by Duyar also stands in the Artists Park in Akatlar.

Death Bedia Muvahhit died on 20 January 1994 aged 98 in Istanbul University Hospital, where she was taken following a home accident. She was laid to rest in Istanbul's Asiyan Cemetery.

Filmography

Awards 1981 Atatürk Prize for Art 1987 State Actress of Turkey, for her contributions to the Turkish culture. 1988 International Istanbul Film Festival (Golden Tulip Prize)

Legacy "Bedia Muvahhit Theatre Award" is bestowed in her honor annually since 1995 by Istanbul Municipal Theatre and Union of Turkish Women to talented young stage actresses for their debut. Turkish Post issued a postage stamp depicting her portrait.