Photo: Müjgan Arpat / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Seyran Ateş is, to me, one of the bravest figures in this whole database. Born in Istanbul, she became a lawyer in Germany and then founded a liberal Berlin mosque where men and women pray side by side, breaking with tradition under real threat to her safety. That takes a spine most of us will never need to test. I won't pretend to settle debates about faith, but I deeply respect anyone who keeps a door open while taking fire from every direction. Her stack of merit awards feels almost secondary to the simple, stubborn act of refusing to back down. Remarkable conviction.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Seyran Ateş
- Name (Japanese)
- セイラン・アテシュ
- Reading
- せいらん・あてしゅ
- Born
- April 20, 1963 (age 63)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rabbit
- Origin
- Istanbul, Istanbul Province, Turkey
- Occupation
- lawyer / women's rights activist / writer / imam / jurist
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- Order of Merit of Berlin
- 2007 Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2014 Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2006 Margherita von Brentano prize
- Johann Philipp Palm Award
- Marion Dönhoff Award
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Seyran Ateş born?
Born April 20, 1963 (age 63).
Where is Seyran Ateş from?
Seyran Ateş is from Istanbul, Istanbul Province, Turkey.
What does Seyran Ateş do?
Seyran Ateş works as lawyer, women's rights activist, writer, imam, jurist.
Lawyer — see all → · Women's rights activist — see all → · More people from Turkey →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.