Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Atatürk was born under the name Mustafa in 1881. His birthplace was in Salonika, Macedonia (now Thessaloniki, Greece). Salonika was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He took the name Kemal as a schoolboy and Atatürk (which means Father of the Turks) when he was president. His father's name was Ali Rıza Efendi. His mother's name was Zübeyde Hanım. He also had a sister, whose name was Makbule (Atadan). He joined the Ottoman army and became an army officer and the most successful general officer of the empire in World War I, fighting in Gallipoli where he successfully defended the peninsula against British and French attacks.