A Rebuttal To Psychoanalytic Biography Of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk No Clinical Concern For Caregiving Context In Infancy

• Published in: Acta medico-historica adriatica : AMHA Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 203 - 222
• Main Author: Sabuncuoglu, Osman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• ISSN: 1334-4366; 1334-6253
• DOI: 10.31952/amha.21.2.1

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.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881. – 1938.) utemeljitelj je moderne Turske Republike. Iako je o njegovu životu objavljeno puno publikacija, samo je jedna biografija prihvatila psihološku/psihoanalitičku perspektivu. Autori Vamık Volkan i Norman Itzkowitz tvrdili su da je glavni pokretački mehanizam Atatürkova ponašanja bila njegova narcisoidna organizacija osobnosti. Okosnica njihova istraživanja bilo je Mustafino rođenje koje se dogodilo nedugo nakon što su njegova starija braća umrla te njegova majka, vjerojatno u stanju teške depresije, nije mogla pružiti odgovarajuću emocionalnu skrb. To je, prema mišljenju tih autora, ustupilo mjesto kompenzacijskim narcističkim tendencijama djeteta. Hipoteza je nekoliko desetljeća ostala neosporena i još uvijek nije provedena nikakva ozbiljna revizija. U ovom članku tvrdi se da je Mustafa Kemal, na temelju svojih dobro razvijenih verbalnih vještina i uspjeha u školi, bio vrlo inteligentno i nadareno dijete. Dok je razmatran utjecaj nepovoljnih događaja u ranom djetinjstvu na Atatürkov kognitivni razvoj i njegovu osobnost, pregled povijesnih tekstova otkrio je da su njegova starija braća umrla 1883. – a ne prije Mustafina rođenja, kao što su autori Volkan i Itzkowitz vjerovali. Stoga se čini da se nije dogodio nikakav ozbiljan događaj u njegovim ranim godinama u kojima se smatra da dolazi do brzog razvoja mozga. Budući da je središnja premisa tog istraživanja izgubila svoj integritet u Atatürkovoj biografiji, hipoteza Volkana i Itzkowitza više se ne može smatrati logičnom i održivom.