Personal Records

The research done about the biography of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proves that much of the information about his school years was wrong. War Academy years were no exception to these inaccuracies. Errors due to the anecdotes which are not well researched, the errors in changing the Julian and the Islamic calendar to the Gregorian calendar have continued till this very day. Even the ones who tried to correct these errors have also caused new misunderstandings.

If his grades, his placement in terms of his total points and the information about his courses are put aside, his personal records are as follows:

Enrollment: March, 1, 1315 (13 March, 1899, Monday). Epaulet number: 1283. Graduation certificate number: 59998. The date the exam results were given and the names of the cadets who became officers were known and their going to religious festival holiday of 39 days in the third grade: 22 Teşrinisanı 1317 (5 December, 1901, Thursday). End of festival: 31 Kanunievvel 1317 (13 January 1902, Monday). Graduation ceremony and presenting the certificates: 12 Kanunusani 1317 (10 February 1902, Monday).

Another important issue is his “military record”. In his “personal file”, which is kept in the archives of The Land Forces, his registration number is “1317-P.8, (1317-Infantry-8). The number 1317 in the Julian calendar is sometimes given as 1901 or 1902. The right one is 1901. The academic year used to start on the 13th of March and end at the end of the December. The 1317 year in Julian calendar includes 12 months, between March, 1st and February 28th. The period between 14th of March and 31st of December in the Julian calendar, totaling nine months and eighteen days, is in 1901 in Gregorian calendar. The other months of April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December, including the 18 days in March, belongs to the year of 1317. Only two months and 13 days of the year 1317, between the dates of January the 1st and March the 13th, are in 1902 in the Gregorian calendar. The January and February months and the first 13 days of March in 1902 are in 1317 in Gregorian calendar. According to this, Mustafa Kemal and the other cadets of the “1315 enrollment” belongs to the “1901 term.” Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s registration number is “1901-Infantry-8.”

Mustafa Kemal’s registration number is presented as “Infantry-1474” in some publications. This information is based on Muharrem Mazlum’s book. This number must have been his epaulet number in the academy. The information in his military record clearly points out that his registration number is “1317-Infantry-8” (1901-Infantry-8).