Lütfi Kırdar

Lütfi Kırdar
Mehmet Lütfi Kırdar
Minister of Health and Social Security
In office November 26, 1957 – May 27, 1960
Prime Minister	Adnan Menderes
Preceded by	Nafiz Körez
Succeeded by	Nusret Karasu
Ambassador of Turkey to Sweden
In office 1949–1949
President	İsmet İnönü
Governor and Mayor of Istanbul
In office December 5, 1938 – October 20, 1949
Preceded by	Muhittin Üstündağ
Succeeded by	Fahrettin Kerim Gökay
Governor of Manisa
In office 1936–1938
Preceded by	Murat Germen
Succeeded by	Osman Şahinbaş
Personal details
Born	March 15, 1887 Kirkuk, Ottoman Empire
Died	February 17, 1961 Yassıada, Istanbul, Turkey
Citizenship	Turkish
Political party	Republican People's Party (CHP) Democrat Party (DP)
Education	Medicine
Alma mater	Istanbul University

Mehmet Lütfi Kırdar (March 15, 1887 – February 17, 1961) was a Turkish physician, civil servant, politician and Minister of Health and Social Security. He is best remembered for his long-term position as the Governor and Mayor of Istanbul.

Lütfi Kırdar was born 1887 to a prominent family in Kirkuk, then in the Ottoman Empire. After finishing primary and secondary education in his hometown, he graduated from high school in Baghdad, Ottoman Empire. In 1908, he went to Istanbul to study medicine at Istanbul University.

He interrupted his university education and entered the army when the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) outbroke. After the war, he resumed his university education and graduated in 1917 as a physician. He began his profession in Najaf (today in Iraq). During World War I (1914-1918), he joined the army again.

After the World War I, he returned to medicine serving in the Turkish Red Crescent. Having met Mustafa Kemal Atatürk during the Erzurum Congress (1919), he subsequently participated at the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922) as the leader of military medical service. For his contributions, he was later awarded with the Medal of Independence.

Following the proclamation of the Republic in 1923, Lütfi Kırdar conducted special studies on ophthalmology in Vienna, Austria and Munich, Germany. Returned home in 1924, he became Director of Health in Izmir. In 1933, Lütfi Kırdar took the post of an ophthalmologist at the State Hospital in Izmir.