He was born in 1881 in Salonica, then an Ottoman city, now in Greece. His father Ali Riza, a customs official turned lumber merchant, died when Mustafa was still a boy. His mother Zubeyde, a devout and strong-willed woman, raised him and his sister. First enrolled in a traditional religious school, Mustafa soon switched to a modern one. In 1893, he entered a military high school where his mathematics teacher gave him the second name Kemal, which means perfection, in recognition of young Mustafas superior achievement. He was thereafter known as Mustafa Kemal. MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATURK On a day of 1881, a male child was born in a pink house located at the district of Ahmet Subaşı, city of Salonika, which is inside Greek boundaries today. Father Ali Rıza whispered the name of the child to his ear. "MUSTAFA." Before Mustafa ,Zübeyde Hanım and Ali Rıza Bey had three children named Fatma,Ömer and Ahmet. When Mustafa was born none of those children were alive. Mother Zübeyde Hanım was a pretty Turkmen woman strictly devoted to religious beliefs.The ancestors of Zübeyde Hanım were known as a branch of Turkmen tribe. They immigrated from Anatolia to Rumelia during the conquest of Rumelia by the Ottomans and settled in Sarıgöl subdistrict located west of the Vodina district in west Makedonia. It is thought that this tribe came there from Konya or Aydın provinces of Anatolia. Father Ali Rıza was a resident of Salonika and his father was Ahmet Efendi .His uncle Hafız Ahmet Efendi, a teacher in the district school, was nicknamed as "Red Hafız Efendi" because of his red beard. At the time, Father Ali Rıza was working as a customs officer. Later, he quit and established a partnership with a timber trader Cafer Efendi. He was also involved with brine trading for some time. Ali Rıza passed away at the young age of 47. What were left from Ali Rıza Bey to Zübeyde was two mecidiyes (40 kuruş) idow salary,7 year old Mustafa and his sister Makbule. SCHOOL YEARS Mustafa started school while his father was still alive. Ali Rıza Beys desire was to send Mustafa to the newly-opened Şemsi Efendi school so that he would get a contemporary education although Zübeyde Hanım wanted him to attend a traditional school where mostly prayers and hymns were taught. This caused arguments inside the family and eventually a concensus was reached. Mustafa put on his brand new clothes , grabbed his embroidered bag with the Holy Koran inside and started the traditional school, following his mothers wish, with a traditional ceremony accompanied with prayers and hymns. However, just a few days later, he changed his mind and started Şemsi Efendi school. In this way, he managed to make both Zübeyde Hanım and Ali Rıza Bey happy. Mustafa Kemal had to be indebted to his father for it was him who opened his sons path with modern and contemporary ideas. However, unfortunately Ali Rıza Bey would not be able to see the success of his son Mustafa "RISING OVER ANATOLIA LIKE THE SUN." Ali Rıza Beys death in the November of 1893 due to apparent economical inconveniences made it impossible for the remaining family members to live in Salonika. Thus, Zübeyde Hanım went to Rapla farm by Langaza near Salonika where her mother Ayşe Hanıms stepbrother Hüseyin Ağa was working as the steward. Hüseyin Ağa took good care of Zübeyde Hanım and the children but Mustafa did not want to stay in the farm for a long time. HIS AMBITION WAS TO GET A GOOD EDUCATION AND BE A GREAT MAN A decision was made to return to Salonika where Mustafa began to attend a secondary civil servant school. However, things were not fine. One day, he was severely punished by his teacher "Kaymak Hafız Efendi" for he had quarreled with one of his classmates. He was also in a continuous disagreement with one of the other teachers "Copur Hafız Nuri Efendi". All these events drove him to extreme furiosity and made him quit the school. This event was one of the milestones in his life. He made the decision to choose his real place: the Military. MILITARY LIFE It is not possible to think the armed forcess and the nation as seperate. When the nation falled into trouble, the armed forces assisted the state and the nation. The armed forces always have been one of the foundation stones for the state and the nation in the history of the Turks. After a short time(1893) Mustafa Kemal enrolled to military middle school, he provided acceptance of himself to his friends...