Ipek Calislar is a veteran journalist and writer. She has worked at the prestigious daily Cumhuriyet for twelve years and has served on the boards of KA-DER and PEN Turkey. Calislar was tried in Turkey for 'insulting the memory of Kemal Ataturk' with this biography, but was later acquitted. Madam Ataturk is a bestseller in Turkey and has been translated into eleven languages.