The Lifelong Mysterious Relapsing "Kidney" Disease of the Founder of Turkey; Ataturk (1881-1938) in Connection with European Medical and Political History

Abstract

Introduction: Although Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) was a national hero with his intrepid and enlightened attempts to establish modern Turkey from the remnants of Ottoman heritage, he had been suffering from lifelong "kidney disease" that appeared with intermittent flank pain and fever without an identified source. However, we think that this physical pain that he endured only increased his motivation to focus on his military and political aims. Methods & Results: In this historical review article, we have focused on his personal medical life and specifically his "kidneys" from the beginning of the complaint till his death through European medical and political history with geographic locations and speculated upon it via past, near past, and recent medical literature. Conclusion: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the great military and political leader for his country, had always suffered from uro/nephrological problems throughout his life. We think that this was one of the reasons that urology has been privileged and thus to be the oldest separated medical surgical branch in Turkey and to some significant extent with European urological history.