Necip Okaner

Necip Okaner — Biography

Enver Necip Okaner was a Turkish naval officer, footballer and academic born in 1889 in Çamlıca. Together with Ziya Songülen and Şevkipaşazade Ayetullah Bey, he became one of the founding figures of Fenerbahçe Sports Club in 1907, registered as the club's third member. The club's founding meeting was held at Okaner's own residence on Beşbıyık Street in the Moda quarter of Kadıköy, and he went on to serve as Fenerbahçe's first-ever team captain.

Okaner graduated from the Turkish Naval Academy in 1907 and entered service as a naval lieutenant, rising to the rank of lieutenant within the Naval Forces by 1909. Between 1912 and 1913 he completed torpedo training with Britain's Royal Navy, and after returning to Istanbul he was promoted to captain. He taught mine warfare from 1914 to 1916 and, in 1916, spent six weeks training with the Imperial German Navy.

After leaving military service, Okaner turned to academia and taught English at Ege University's School of Foreign Languages. He died on 28 July 1959 in İzmir and was buried at Kokluca Cemetery in the city's Bornova district.