Ataturk was born in 1881 at the Kocakasım ward of Salonika, in a three story pink house located on Islahhane Street. His father is Ali Rıza Efendi and his mother Zubeyde Hanım. His paternal grandfather, Hafız Ahmed Efendi belonged to the Kocacık nomads who were settled in Macedonia during the XIV - XV th centuries. His mother Zubeyde Hanım was the daughter of an Old Turkish family who had settled in the town of Langasa near Salonika. Ali Rıza Efendi, who worked as militia officer, title deed clerck and lumber trader, married Zubeyde Hanım in 1871. Four of the 5 siblings of Ataturk died at early ages and only one sister, Makbule (Atadan) survived, and lived until 1956. http://www.ataturk.com/content/view/24/43/ Mustapha Kemal's reputation was first established during the rise of the Young Turks in the Ottoman Empire, in 1908-1909. At the outbreak of the Great War, Kemal was serving as Military Attache in Bulgaria. He urged neutrality, in order to give the Turkish military time to recuperate from the Balkan Wars, but his arguments went unheeded by Turkey's military leadership. Destiny found Kemal in 1915. Fear of an attempt to force the Dardanelles prompted the formation the 5th army, under Liman Von Sanders, to defend the Gallipoli peninsula. Here Mustapha Kemal was given command of the 19th division. He had two months to prepare his troops before the Allied invasion began. On the morning of the invasion, Kemal - acting beyond his authority - moved his troops to Chunuk Bair crest, overlooking the ANZAC beach head. His bold move proved to be the key to defending the entire peninsula, and made Mustapha Kemal the most celebrated hero of the Turkish Army. http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Ataturk http://www.ataturk.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2496
