Turkey: Leman Cevat Tomsu
Born in 1913 in Kayseri, Ottoman Empire (modern day Istanbul, Turkey), Leman Cevat Tomsu is considered one of the first professional women architects (alongside Münevver Belen) in the Republic of Turkey. She was also the first woman to achieve the rank of full professor in the Department of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey (1960). After graduating from the Department of Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul (1934), Tomsu worked for the Istanbul Municipality (1935–1940). She then began her career in academia, joining the Istanbul Technical University staff as an assistant to Professor Dr. Emin Halit Onat (1941) before appointed associate professor (1942) and then full-rank professor (1960); she retired c. 1981. Tomsu was a member of the Chamber of Architects (1954-). Throughout her career, she also published numerous articles in Arkitekt, and frequently traveled internationally for research, exhibitions, conferences, seminars, and architectural design competitions where she received recognition and awards for her work. She died in 1988 in Istanbul, Turkey.
References
Dostoğlu, Neslihan Turkun, and Özlem Erdoğdu Erkarslan. Leman Cevat Tomsu: Türk mimarlığında bir öncü, 1913-1988. Birinci. baskı. Vol. VI. Yenişehir, Ankara: TMMOB Mimarlar Odası, 2013.
Erkarslan, Özlem Erdoğdu. “Turkish Women Architects in the Late Ottoman and Early Republican Era, 1908–1950.” Women’s History Review 16, no. 4 (September 2007): 555–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020701445966.
“Kemal Uralman, Kemali Söylemezoğlu, Kenan Mermer, Kerim Arman, Leman Tomsu, Lutfu Niltuna.” February 22, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222210630/http://www.mimarlikmuzesi.org/Gallery/DisplayPhoto.aspx?ID=23&DetailID=1&ExhibitionID=18.
“Leman Cevat Tomsu.” Her Umut Ortak Arar. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://www.herumutortakarar.com/mimar/leman-cevat-tomsu/.
“Leman Cevat Tomsu y Münevver Belen Gözeler.” Colegio de Arquitectos de Río Negro. March 31, 2025. https://www.carn.com.ar/noticias/viernesdearquitectas_-leman-cevat-tomsu-y-mnevver-belen-gzeler.
“Leman Tomsu.” Archnet. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://www.archnet.org/authorities/3387.
Özkaya, Belgin Turan, and Elvan Altan Ergut. “Leman Cevat Tomsu: A Pioneer in Turkish Architecture, 1913–1988.” Mimarlık, no. 373 (2013): 80–83. http://www.mimarlikdergisi.com/index.cfm?sayfa=mimarlik&DergiSayi=387&RecID=3256.
“Prof. Dr. Leman (Cevat Tomsu.” Cumhuriyet’in Öncü Kadınları. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://www.cumhuriyetinoncukadinlari.com/leman-tomsu.php.
Tomsu, Leman. “Poliklinik Binası.” Arkitekt, no. 123–124 (1941): 49–52. http://dergi.mo.org.tr/dergiler/2/107/1180.pdf.
Tomsu, Leman. “Samsun Merkez Bankası Proje Müsabakası.” Arkitekt, no. 105–106 (1939): 195–197. http://dergi.mo.org.tr/dergiler/2/104/1141.pdf.
Tomsu, Leman. “Tozkoparan’da Bir Gazino Projesi.” Arkitekt, no. 99-100 (1939): 73–75. http://dergi.mo.org.tr/dergiler/2/100/1087.pdf.
Tomsu, Leman, and Münevver Belen. “Ev Projesi.” Arkitekt, no. 76 (1937): 110–111. http://dergi.mo.org.tr/dergiler/2/29/213.pdf.
Tomsu, Leman, and Münevver Belen. “Gerede Halkevi Projesi.” Arkitekt, no. 72 (1936): 330–332. http://dergi.mo.org.tr/dergiler/2/140/1703.pdf.
Tomsu, Leman, and Münevver Belen. “Kayseri Halkevi Binası Projesi.” Arkitekt, no. 76 (1937): 107–109.http://dergi.mo.org.tr/dergiler/2/29/212.pdf. [Link unavailable as of March 11, 2026].
Quixal, Joaquim. “Leman Cevat Tomsu.” Un Día Una Arquitecta (blog). Accessed March 8, 2024. https://undiaunaarquitecta2.wordpress.com/2016/12/08/leman-tomsu-1913-1988-munevver-belen-1913-1973/tomsu000/.
“Uygulamadan Akademiye İlk Kadın Mimar.” Goethe Institut. Accessed March 8, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20231030211741/https://www.goethe.de/ins/tr/tr/kul/sup/ekt/lem.html.
