Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938)

Mustafa Kemal was an Ottoman army officer who had distinguished himself at Gallipoli (defending against Allied invasion in 1915). After WWI he organized Turkish resistance against the Allied occupation. The Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) defeated Greek forces in western Anatolia, expelled Allied troops, and rejected the Treaty of Sèvres. The new Treaty of Lausanne (1923) recognized Turkey as a sovereign state on terms much more favorable than Sèvres.

In October 1923 the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed with Mustafa Kemal as its first president. In 1934 the parliament granted him the surname Atatürk, "Father of the Turks."