Today in History – 7 August

İsmet Pasha wanted to quit smoking his entire life

In one of his countless attempts to quite smoking, İsmet Pasha made the following entry in his journal on August 7, 1929:

I quit smoking at noon.

Despite this note, İsmet İnönü could not stop smoking until an advanced age. His physician Prof. Dr. Zafer Paykoç conveyed İsmet Pasha’s years-long struggle with smoking as follows:

He often said that the one thing he had most difficulty quitting was smoking. One day, we had a heated discussion. I found out that he had starting smoking again and that he was smoking two to four cigarettes a day. I warned him about the dangers of smoking, I pleaded. Perhaps with the effect of having been caught red-handed, he seemed angry. “You have no right to meddle with my smoking. I smoke a few a day. Do not torture me,” he said.

I was taken aback. I had not expected such a response from him. I mustered my courage, “Smoking is bad for you, my pasha, but it is your health after all, you can do as you please. But, you need to kindly find yourself another physician,” I said. He was probably not expecting this reply. He did not insist; he put out his cigarette. “Fine, I won’t smoke. What can I do, but listen to the adamant doctor?” he replied and told me the following story about Atatürk:

Several years before his death, Atatürk confided in İsmet Pasha. He was deeply sorrowful. He had learned that he had a liver disease caused by alcohol and already knew how it would end. “What saddens me most is that none of my physicians told me what my real ailment was and implored me to absolutely stop drinking. Otherwise, I would have quit it without any hesitation and perhaps not be in this condition right now.” With this story, İsmet Pasha was propitiating me and showing me that he understood my predicament.