Robert College
Robert College | |
---|---|
type of school | independent private college |
founding | 1863 |
address |
Kuruçesme Cad. No.87 |
place | Arnavutkoy ( Istanbul ) |
province | Istanbul |
Country | Turkey |
Coordinates | 41 ° 5 '2 " N , 29 ° 3' 5" E |
student | 1032 |
management | Anthony Jones |
Website | www.webportal.robcol.k12.tr |
The Robert College ( RC , Turkish Robert Kolej ) is a US- American high school and boarding school founded in 1863 in Istanbul . In 1971, when private universities were banned in Turkey , it was spun off from what is now Boğaziçi Üniversitesi and left the location that had been common until then. Robert College graduates include numerous figures from Turkish and Bulgarian history, including several prime ministers.
history
Robert College is in the tradition of several American missionary educational institutions, such as the American University of Beirut or the American University of Cairo . In 1860 the preacher Cyrus Hamlin went on a mission to the Ottoman Empire . His request to set up Ottoman educational institutions under his guidance was rejected by the Ottoman authorities at the influence of the established Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, since the latter disliked the missionary concerns of the American preachers. When Hamlin put aside his missionary concerns in order to still be allowed to found schools, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions , his original employer, withdrew his support. Hamlin's efforts to take advantage of the ties of his cousin, American Vice President Hannibal Hamlin , failed after his return to the United States in May 1861. After leaving for Istanbul again, Cyrus Hamlin met philanthropist Christopher Rhinelander Robert in Paris , who, out of enthusiasm for his cause , transferred him $ 30,000 , which was followed by further donations over time. A friend of Hamlin's from his time in Cairo, the Ottoman Admiral Farragut, secured him permission to build Robert College in Bebek .
In the founding phase of Robert College it was useful that the American founders were Unitarians who rejected the Trinity and were therefore closer to Islam than other Christian groups. There was close cooperation between the Americans and the native dervishes of the Bektashi order, whose Tekke was located right next to the campus in Bebek.
In the first few decades, most of the students at Robert College were non-Muslims, who then made up the majority of Istanbul's population, mainly Greeks , Armenians and Bulgarians . 197, including prominent personalities from Bulgaria , liberated after the Russo-Ottoman War (1877–1878), had received their training at the RC.
It was not until 1900 that Muslim Turks began attending Robert College. In 1914, in contrast to British and French institutions in Constantinople, Robert College was able to continue its work because America was initially neutral. After World War I, American professors were able to continue their work as the college continued to be a US educational institution under Massachusetts state law until the late 1960s .
In 1971 the Robert College moved from the old campus in Bebek to Arnavutköy and merged with the American College for Girls (ACG), which is also steeped in tradition , and whose most important student was the writer and feminist Halide Edip Adıvar , a political companion of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk , was. After that, Robert College was no longer a university in the true sense of the word, but rather a higher school in the sense of an American high school or a German grammar school. At the same time, co-education was introduced in the new Robert College. University operations, on the other hand, continued on the old campus in Bebek in the newly established Bosporus University . The state university, which continues the academic tradition of Robert College, is now one of the leading educational institutions in Turkey .
Towards the end of the 19th century, German lecturers were also active at the American colleges in Istanbul. Friedrich Schrader , who later became known as a journalist and writer, taught there from 1891 to 1900, Paul Lange (died 1920 in Istanbul), later as "Lange Bey", court conductor of the last Turkish sultan and father of the well-known US conductor and orchestra leader Hans Lange , taught European classical music at the ACG. In an article for the German-language literary magazine Nord und Süd in the autumn of 1919, Schrader dealt extensively with Robert College, in particular with its role as a “cadre forge” for young nation states like Bulgaria.
Quotes
“The history and the spirit of Robert College can also be instructive for us Germans with regard to our school efforts in the Orient. One should not forget that Turkish soil is an essentially democratic, freedom-loving country that has less understanding for German militarism and German war history than for the struggle of a people for basic human rights. Therefore, by showing the great figures of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to their students , the Americans found a more fertile and grateful soil than we have found with all our educational wisdom and scientific depth ”
Prominent figures from Robert College
Lecturers
- Hagop Vahram Çerçiyan Ataturk's Armenian friend
- Cyrus Hamlin (Founding Rector of the RC)
- George Washburn (successor to Hamlin)
- Tevfik Fikret
- John Freely (Professor of Physics, known for his books on the history of Istanbul and his travel guides)
- Nicolas Rashevsky Biomathematist, before emigrating to the USA
- Paul Lange (AGC)
- Friedrich Schrader (Robert College Bebek, 1891–95)
- Konstantin Stoilow Bulgarian politician
Alumni
- Arman Manukyan (1931–2012), Turkish-Armenian writer and economist
- Orhan Pamuk (* 1952), Turkish writer, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature (2006)
- Halil Berktay (* 1947), Turkish historian and professor
- Zeki Alasya (1943-2015), Turkish actor
- Perihan Mağden (* 1960), Turkish writer and columnist
- Bülent Ecevit (1925-2006), Turkish politician
- Halide Edip Adıvar (1884–1964), Turkish writer, feminist, Turkish nationalist (AGC)
- Ivan Fitschew (1860–1931), Bulgarian general
- Cevat Şakir (1886–1973), Turkish writer and journalist
- Emre Gönensay (* 1937), Turkish economist and foreign minister
- Celâl Şengör (* 1955), Turkish geologist
- Hagop Kevorkian (1872–1962), American-Armenian archaeologist, excavator and art collector
- Berç Keresteciyan Turk (1870–1949), Armenian banker and politician
- Rupen Semerciyan (* 1906), Armenian basketball coach
- Mığır Mığıryan (* 1882), Ottoman-Armenian Olympic participant
- Vahram Papazyan (1892–1986), Armenian-American Olympian for the Ottoman Empire
- E. Lionel Pavlo (1905 / 1906–1989), American civil engineer and bridge builder
- Şavarş Krisyan (1886–1915), Armenian sports official and journalist
- Vartan İhmalyan (1913–1987), Turkish-Armenian children's author
- Mehmet Özdoğan (* 1943), Turkish prehistorian
- Itzhak Bars (* 1943), Turkish-American physicist
- Tuncer Edil (* 1945), Turkish-American civil engineer
- Levon Larents (1875–1915), Armenian poet, translator, journalist and teacher
- Dani Rodrik (* 1957), Turkish-American economist