Tevfik İleri

He was born in Hemşin ilçe (district) of Rize Province in 1911. He spent his school years in İstanbul, and graduated from İstanbul Technical University in 1933. During his university years, he was elected as the chairman of the Turkish National Students Association (MTTB).[1]

In 1933 at the age of 21, he began a career as supervisor engineer at the General Directorate of Highways in Erzurum, where he worked until 1937. He was then appointed as the local manager of the Public Construction Works in Çanakkale (1937–1942) and Samsun (1942–1946). From 1946 to 1950, İleri served as the manager of the Highway Authority in Samsun.[1]

In 1950, he joined the Democrat Party (DP), and was elected as an MP from Samsun (electoral district). During the DP-government years, he was always belonged to the party's top politicians. He served as the Minister of Transportation (22 May 1950 – 11 August 1950), Minister of National Education (13 April – 25 November 1957 and 22 May 1959 – 8 December 1959 as placeholder) , Deputy Prime Minister (25 November 1957 – 19 January 1958) and Minister of Public Works (19 January 1958–27 May 1960).[1][2]

After the 1960 Turkish coup d'état, he was tried and imprisoned. However, he was hospitalized in 1961, and died in Ankara on 31 December the same year. He was buried at Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.[1]

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