Ayşe Sabiha Gökçül Erbay was an educator and politician who was among the first women to serve as a member of parliament in the history of the Republic of Türkiye. She was born in 1900 in Bergama (Balıkesir). After completing her primary and secondary education, she received teacher training and was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye for two separate terms in 1935 and 1942. She played significant roles during the early Republican period in the fields of education, political service, and the representation of women in public life. She passed away in Istanbul on 31 August 1998.

Sabiha Gökçül completed her studies at the Istanbul Girls’ Teacher Training School and the preparatory section of Darü’l-Muallimât-ı Âliye in 1919. She is described as a French-speaking, cultured, and nationalist teacher. From 1919 onward, she held teaching and administrative positions in cities such as Edirne, İzmir, and Adana.

She began her career as a Turkish language teacher at the Edirne Darü’l-Muallimât from 1919 to 1920. Subsequently, between 1923 and 1924, she served as a teacher, deputy principal, and principal at the İzmir Girls’ Teacher Training School and İzmir Girls’ High School. In 1924 she was appointed principal of the Girls’ Teacher Training School in Adana, and in 1925 she returned to İzmir to resume her duties there. In 1930 she became principal of the İzmir Girls’ Teacher Training School, a position she held until 1935.

In the 1935 elections, Sabiha Gökçül was nominated as a candidate for the Balıkesir constituency by the Republican People’s Party and was elected to the Fifth Term of the Grand National Assembly with 1,172 votes. During this legislative term, she was elected as Secretary of the Assembly Presidency, becoming the first woman to hold this position. She also served on the Customs and Monopolies Committee.

She was not re-elected in the 1939 general elections, but returned to parliament in a by-election held on 9 August 1942 following the death of Samsun MP Meliha Ulaş. From that date onward, she served in the Sixth and Seventh Terms of the Grand National Assembly, continuing her role on the Customs and Monopolies Committee. In the Seventh Term, where she was elected to the committee with 280 votes, she was among the proposers of a proposal aimed at higher education students. Despite serving in three legislative terms, she never spoke from the parliamentary podium.

After her parliamentary service, she worked as a literature teacher at Ankara Gazi High School from 1947 to 1948. She married lawyer Mustafa Ulvi Erbay in 1943; her husband taught rhetoric at the School of Public Administration. In 1949 she joined the board of directors of the Trabzon Higher Education Youth Assistance Association.

In 1952, together with her husband, she founded and published two newspapers titled “Yeni Sanat Edebiyat” and “Atatürkçü Sanat Edebiyat.” She continued her cultural activities during her retirement years.