Women foundations: Models of Kütahya (1789-1923)

When women?s history is mentioned, we face to the reality that there aren?t adequate deep researches about it. In this work I presented as a master?s thesis, charitable foundation documents, proving and illuminating the place of women in social and economic life, belong to Kütahya and include the years between 1789 and 1923. Charitable foundations which are eleemosynary in itself has provided a beatiful harmony and balance in the social and economic order of society with the services and employment presented. Beyond doubt, these charitable foundations were common during Ottoman Empire because Islamic Religion, which dominated the majority, incited people to works of charity and promised to reward after death. In Ottoman Administration, authoritarians are generally men; so in this society, it is very important that women had the rights of make over their estates which has economic and social value freely. In the third and fourth chapters; Woman Charitable Foundations in Kütahya show us that what the women living in an Anatolian city and weren?t from Ottoman dynasty could do with possible facilities, how they could make contributions to social and economic life and use their rights widely. When we take into consider these documents, we can state that the women living in Kütahya had crucial roles in the social and economic life.