Kamil Özdemir Tolon (29 February 1912 – 23 July 1978) was a Turkish businessperson, industrialist and inventor, known for the first manufacture of an electric engine in Turkey.

He graduated in 1935, and started working as a Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı (lit. transl.

After returning from the army, Tolon started producing combine harvesters, water pumps, washing machines and dishwashers.

He was a founding member of the Justice Party and became a chairman at the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Regarded as one of the most important figures in Turkish industrialism, Kamil Tolon died in 1978 in Geneva, Switzerland, from an embolism.

[3] During his time in high school, he was interested in engineering: he designed a music box while still being a student.

At the faculty of law, he met several future politicians, including Adnan Menderes, the 9th prime minister of Turkey.

[10] After graduating from university, Tolon started to work at Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı (lit. transl.

[6][11] He went to an engineering school in France for a brief period, before opening a shop in Bursa in 1937, which he named Tolon Makina.

The two started a workshop together on Cumhuriyet Street, where they manufactured wheel hubs for cars and Jacquard machines.

[19] Washing machines at the time were only owned by the wealthy, as the need to import them made them expensive.

[17] The copper wires needed for the machines were processed in his own workshop and everything apart from the engines were built by Tolon.

[8] Tolon had trouble selling the dishwasher, as locals at the time thought that washing dishes by hand was cleaner: as a result, he stopped production.

[24] Despite the fire completely burning down his workshop, he temporarily continued his work in tents of the Turkish Red Crescent.

He considered becoming a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, but was not able to due to an uneasy atmosphere within the party.

[28] He died on 23 July 1978 in Geneva, Switzerland after suffering from an embolism following a heart surgery at the age of 66.

[15][24][26] Turkish president and Justice Party leader Süleyman Demirel considered Kamil Tolon to be one of the people who initiated industrialization movements in Bursa and across the country.