Şükûfezar was a women's magazine published in Istanbul in 1884 or 1886. It was the first Muslim women's magazine in the Ottoman Empire owned and written entirely by women. Unlike previous publications aimed at women, it was not a supplement to any newspaper or publication, but an independent journal published for women by women; due to this characteristic, it is accepted as the "first Muslim women's magazine."
The magazine was published with an effort to encourage women toward science and education, driven by a desire to awaken and activate them. The license holder of the magazine was Ârife Hanım, daughter of the Minister of Education at the time, Münif Mehmed Pasha, and its other writers were Fatma Nevber and Münire.
Content In the magazine, of which five issues have survived to the present day, works of various genres by Ârife, Fatma Nevber, and Münire, as well as letters from readers, were published. Although the editorial staff was limited to three people, the magazine took shape through reader letters and the responses given to them. The reader letters were mostly from graduates of Darülmuallimat, the teacher training school for women of the period. Although it was not a literary magazine, literary works were included in it. In the fourth issue, a poem by Fatma Nigar was published.
Each issue consisted of 16 pages, and the total of the issues that have survived to the present day is eighty pages. Since only the year was given as the date, it is unknown how frequently it was published; however, it was announced in its first issue that it would be published every 15 days. All five surviving issues are located in the Özege Collection at the library of Atatürk University in Erzurum.
According to what was stated in the first issue, the name Şükûfezâr, which means "flower garden," was given by the poet Abdülkerim Sabit Bey. On the cover of each issue, the following quatrain by Sheikh Vasfi was featured:
In each issue of the magazine, the following statement as a preface explained the mission of the journal:
See also Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete
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