Mustafa Kemal was born in 1881 in Salonika, now the Greek city of Thessaloniki, but at that time, was a city in Ottoman Macedonia.

Mustafa was an intelligent child, and worked hard at school. His mathematics teacher was so impressed with him, that he gave him the nickname of Kemal (excellence). This name stuck with him through school, military academy, war college and as an officer.

In World War 1 he was a lieutenant colonel of infantry. He led the defence of Gallipoli, and saved the capital from British conquest, until the end of the war, and was a personal triumph for Mustafa. His strategic and tactical skills drove away the superior Anzac force, and Mustafa became an Ottoman folk hero. He was promoted to Paşa (general) but his superiors saw him as a dangerous element, and tried to keep him under control. At the end of the war, when the Ottoman empire was on the verge of collapse, Mustafa started to make changes. Mustafa rallied the people, and began to establish democracy, and with limited resources held off many invading armies.

Atatürk became the first president of The Republic of Turkey on 29th October 1923, and spent 15 years introducing reforms and gave the Turkish people a new positive image, a more European, modern image, rather than the "Terrible Turk", which was the image of the rest of the western world. He introduced the Latin alphabet, womens rights (Turkish women were given the right to vote before the British and many other nationalities), and reform of the calendar. In 1934 he assumed the name of Atatürk ("Father of the Turks"). He remained president until his death in Istanbul on 10th November 1938. His remains were placed in the Atatürk Mausoleum in 1953.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is held in the highest esteem by the Turkish people, he is a national hero. The law forbids anyone to defame him, and there are no cartoons, caricatures or jokes about him. To insult him is to insult.