A Rebuttal To Psychoanalytic Biography Of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Abstract

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) was the founder of the modern-day Turkish Republic. Although much has been published about his life, only one biography adopted a psychological/psychoanalytic perspective. The authors Vamık Volkan and Norman Itzkowitz argued that the main driving mechanism behind Atatürk’s behavior was his narcissistic personality organization. Their framework considered Mustafa’s birth, which occurred shortly after his elder brothers had passed away, and how his mother, presumably in a state of severe depression, could not provide adequate emotional care, which gave way to compensatory narcissistic tendencies in the child. For several decades, the hypothesis has remained unchallenged, and no serious review has yet been carried out. In this article, I argue that Mustafa Kemal was a highly intelligent and gifted child based on his well-developed verbal skills and his record as a high achiever at school. While considering the impact of adverse events in early childhood on cognitive development and personality, a review of historical texts revealed that his elder brothers died in 1883—not before Mustafa’s birth, as the authors had believed. Thus, no serious event appears to have taken place in his early years when rapid brain development is thought to occur. Since the central premise has lost its integrity to support the biography, Volkan and Itzkowitz’s hypothesis can no longer be regarded as tenable and viable.