Darülfünun
The Darülfünun , also called Dar-ül Fünun (from the Arabicدار الفنونwith the meaning House of Sciences ; Ottoman term for 'university'), was the first university of the Ottoman Empire in the European sense. The university was founded in 1900 on the initiative of the Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II . After the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 under Kemal Ataturk, the institution was dissolved by reform in 1933 and merged with the newly founded University of Istanbul .
founding
As early as 1848 the Ottomans decided to found a university that should encompass all sciences. But a year later this first university was closed due to a lack of teachers and students.
Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Ali Pascha and the Minister of Education Mehmed Esad Saffet Pascha founded another university called Darülfünun Osmani in 1870 . Hoca Tahsin Efendi became the rector and the professors included such people as Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani and Aristoklis Efendi. The university consisted of three faculties (philosophy and literary studies, law, and natural sciences and mathematics). This university was also closed again a year later.
The third and ultimately permanent university, the Darülfünun Şahane , was opened in 1900 with a royal Ferman Abdülhamids. This university was joined by the Medical School founded in 1866 (osm: Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane ) and the Law School founded in 1880 (osm: Mekteb-i Hukuk ). In addition, the Faculty of Science and Mathematics (Turkish Ulûm-ı Riyâziye ve Tabiiye ), the Faculty of Literature (osm: Edebiyat Fakäne ) and the Faculty of Theology (Turkish İlahiyat Fakäne ) were founded.
The period of the second Ottoman constitutional period and the republic
During Abdülhamid's reign the Darülfünun was under strict surveillance and was able to develop after the Young Turkish Revolution in 1908 and the re-enactment of the Ottoman constitution . The number of institutes increased, as did scientific publications and doctoral programs, making Darülfünun a real university. The number of students rose from 600 (before 1908) to 4600 (in the school year 1913-14). The university senate was founded in 1912 and foreign professors such as Fritz Arndt were hired from 1914 .
In 1914 a university for women called Darülfünun-ı İnas was founded. But because of the boycott of female students, that university was merged with the Darülfünun in 1920 and mixed-sex classes - with the exception of theology - were made possible.
During the armistice after World War I , the students supported the Kemalist resistance movement in Anatolia. As a result of three months of protests, five anti-Kemalist teachers were forced to resign in 1922. Boycotts, demonstrations and presentations became part of everyday university life at the time.
Ataturk spoke positively and praises the Darülfünun in the 1920s. In 1924, for example, he said that the Darülfünun was doing the homeland great services by advancing the country in science and civilization. In 1925 Ataturk praised the high level of awareness and sensitivity of the university with regard to national and state problems and issues. In the same year Ataturk sent a telegram to the rector of the university, in which he addressed the merits for the education of an enlightened and progressive youth. On December 16, 1930, Ataturk, who was an honorary professor at the Faculty of Literature, attended Darülfünun. In the guest book he wrote:
“I am very touched by the fact that I made the acquaintance of highly esteemed professors at Istanbul's Darülfünun and that I met valuable young people nearby. We have no doubt that this lofty institution which science has set for itself will do a great service. G. Mustafa Kemal "
closure
The Turkish government strove for an educational reform and wanted, among other things, to unite the parallel educational paths (state and religious). The Darülfünun was practically autonomous and the state had no influence or control over the facility. When the Darülfünun also questioned the Turkish history thesis and solar language theory , which was officially announced in 1932, great difficulties arose with the government. According to Prof. İlhan Başgöz :
“At the First Turkish History Congress in Darülfünun, some teachers dared to criticize the official language and history theses. Not only did the university not support the theses in which Mustafa Kemal was personally interested and which were part of the government's cultural policy, but also criticized them, led to a violent reaction in Ankara. "
Two months after the Congress, former Justice of the Independence Court , Reşit Galip , was appointed Minister of Education. He was commissioned to reform the Darülfünun. He had the Swiss educator Albert Malche write a critical report on the condition of the Darülfünun. In his Rapport sur l'université d'Istanbul, Malche criticized the inadequate foreign language skills of the Turkish students and also the impossibility of training future Turkish professors at Istanbul University.
On July 31, 1933, the university was finally closed by law and the Istanbul University was founded a day later on August 1 . The Darülfünun had 114 professors, the new university only 78. Of these 78, 65 professors were foreigners - including Germans who had fled the National Socialists . About 100 teachers of the Darülfünun have retired. Sıddık Sami Onar became the first rector .
Reşit Galip said in the opening speech:
“Great political and social upheavals have taken place in the country. In contrast, the university ... remained in the role of a neutral observer. Fundamental events have taken place in the economic sphere. The dar-ul-five didn't seem to know anything about it. Radical changes have taken place in the legal system. The dar-ul-five contented themselves with simply adding the new laws to the curriculum. [...] The Istanbul Darülfünun has finally come to a standstill, has isolated itself and has completely withdrawn from the outside world in a medieval isolation. "
The new university, on the other hand, should be dedicated to nationalism and revolution . According to the Milliyet of September 12, 1933, Reşit Galip chose the new university professors not on the basis of competence, but on their idealism. With the new higher education law, the administrative and financial independence of the university was eliminated. Administrative staff, professors and lecturers were appointed by the Ministry of Education. State control was very tight. According to Başgöz-Wilson:
"The fact that the university failed to fulfill its task of free criticism and control during the entire period of the republic was not only due to the personal weaknesses and educational level of the teaching staff, but also to the difficult political control."
literature
- Kemal Bozay : Exile Turkey. A research contribution on German-speaking emigration to Turkey (1933–1945). Lit Verlag, Münster et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5103-6 ( foreign proximity 15).
- Gülsan Yalcin: Development tendencies in the Turkish higher education system using the example of the foundation universities. (pdf; 5.823Mb) In: kobra.uni-kassel.de. 2001, accessed March 23, 2020 .
- Ayten Genç: A historical panorama of German as a foreign language in Turkey. (pdf; 265 kB) In: miami.uni-muenster.de. 2006 .
- Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu: The house of sciences. The first modern university in the Muslim world . Oxford University Press, New York 2019. ISBN 978-0-19-005155-6 .