Drag queen Seyfi Dursunoğlu laid to rest

Dursunoğlu, the most renowned drag queen of the country, died on July 17 at the age of 88.

İstanbul

Drag queen Seyfi Dursunoğlu laid to rest

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

The funeral of singer, comedian and stage artist Seyfi Dursunoğlu was held today (July 20) at Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in İstanbul.

Dursunoğlu, most renowned for his drag queen performances as the "Huysuz Virjin" (the Grump Virgin), died on July 17 at the age of 88. He had COPD and had been in intensive care for 15 days prior to his death.

His nieces Dilek Dursunoğlu, Güliz Buyrukbilen and Gizem Özköseoğlu accepted condolences at the funeral, which was attended by politicians and artists, including Canan Kaftancoğlu, the İstanbul chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP).

When asked about Dursunoğlu's statement that he would donate his body to be used as a cadaver, Dilek Dursunoğlu said, "There are no documents or information. We will see over time.

Dursunoğlu donated all his assets to the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life (ÇYDD). Ayşe Yüksel, the chair of the association, said, "We are honored and proud because he made this donation to our association."

"... We know that he sewed his costumes on his own, did his own make-up. There is so much elbow grease in what he did, we have great respect for that," she added.

About Seyfi Dursunoğlu

Stage artist, singer, TV presenter, drag queen.

After working for nearly 20 years as a civil servant, he left his job and started to perform under the name Huysuz Virjin (Grump Virgin) in 1970.

He started his career at small clubs, but as his reputation spread out, he started to get offers from bigger clubs. Every year at the İzmir International Fair, he shared the stage with renowned singers in Turkey. With thousands of people coming to the fair, he managed to gain fame in the country.

Dursunoğlu made his biggest debut with the character of "Huysuz Virjin" by participating in a contest program on the state broadcaster TRT in the mid-1970s.

He continued his TV career until 2007, when he announced that the country'S media authority, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), was implicitly pressurizing the TV channels not to air his programs.

However, he returned to the TVs with a new program titled, "Huysuz'la dans eder misin?" (Would you dance with Huysuz?) in 2012. In the same year, he announced that he ended his career due to his age.

Dursunoğlu was born in 1932 in Trabzon, northeast Turkey. After finishing his education at Haydarpaşa High School in İstanbul, he studied philology at İstanbul University but dropped out to work as a civil servant at the Social Insurance Institution (SSK), where he worked for 18 years.

(AÖ/VK)