Ayşegül Aldinç

Ayşegül Aldinç — Biography

Ayşegül Aldinç was born in Istanbul on 28 September 1957. Her father, Orhan Aldinç, worked as a sports journalist, while her mother, Süheyla Aldinç, taught painting; on her father's side the family was of Bosniak descent. Because her mother's postings kept changing, she attended middle schools in three different Istanbul districts, Taksim, Kocamustafapaşa and Feriköy, before finishing at Sultanahmet Art School for secondary education. She then graduated in ceramics from what is now Marmara University, briefly taught art and music, and spent six years working as a designer for the Yıldız Porcelain Factory.

She stepped into professional music in 1978 with a single, and married Mehmet Teoman the following year, separating again within months. At the 1981 song contest for Eurovision held in Dublin, she represented Turkey alongside the Modern Folk Trio, singing "Dönme Dolap." Her debut solo album followed in 1988; around that time she was named best female singer by the İstek Foundation and the Cyprus Journalists' Association, and between 1985 and 1998 she gave concerts across the Soviet Union, China, the United States and much of Europe. She first appeared on screen in 1985 in the TRT series Acımak, moved into film in 1987 with Katırcılar and Yağmur Kaçakları, and won Best Actress at the Adana Altın Koza festival in 1994 for Gerilla. Later credits include the films Güle Güle and Kahpe Bizans and the series Pis Yedili; in 2001 she published a book, Ayşegül Kitapta.