Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi (;
[hezarfen](_blank)
TDK Büyük Türkçe Sözlük. Erişim: 26 Mayıs 2009 1609 – 1640) was an
Ottoman scientist, inventor, chemist, astronomer, physician, Andalusi musician, and poet from Constantinople (
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
) reported in the writings of traveler
Evliya Çelebi
Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
to have achieved sustained
unpowered flight
Unpowered flight is the ability to stay airborne for a period of time without using any power source. There are several types of unpowered flight. Some have been exploited by nature, others by humankind, and some by both.
Unpowered aircraft are ae ...
.
[Çelebi, Evliya (2003). ''Seyahatname''. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık, p. 318.]
Etymology of name
The title ''"Hezârfen"'', given by Evliyâ Çelebi to Ahmet Çelebi, is from
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
هزار ''hezār'' + فنّ ''fann'' meaning "having a thousand sciences" (
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
).
Non-powered flight
The 17th century writings of
Evliyâ Çelebi relate this story of Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi, circa 1630–1632:
While modern historians disagree with Evliya Çelebi's narration of Hezarfen flying the entire
Bosporus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...
,
they state that the flight most likely was real, but heavily exaggerated, as Çelebi often exaggerates in his writings.
Legacy
*One of 4 airports in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
is named the "
Hezarfen Airfield
Hezarfen Airfield ( tr, Hezarfen Havaalanı) is a privately owned airport for general aviation in the Çatalca district of Istanbul, Turkey. One of the four airports in Istanbul, it is named after Hezârfen Ahmet Çelebi, a legendary Ottoman ...
".
*A 1996 feature-length film, "
Istanbul Beneath My Wings
''Istanbul Beneath My Wings'' (Original Turkish title: ''İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında'') is a 1996 Turkish film, written and directed by Mustafa Altıoklar. It is a dramatization of Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi's reported flight across the Bosph ...
" (''İstanbul Kanatlarımın Altında'') concerns the lives of Hezârfen Ahmet Çelebi, his brother and rocket aviator
Lagari Hasan Çelebi, and Ottoman society in the early 17th century, as witnessed and narrated by Evliyâ Çelebi.
*The Turkish children’s TV show “Little Hezarfen” (Küçük Hezarfen) is about Hezârfen Ahmet Çelebi’s childhood, though the events that occur within the show are likely fictitious and/or exaggerated. A main theme within the show, however, is Hezarfen’s desire to build wings that allow him to fly.
See also
*
Lagâri Hasan Çelebi
Lagâri Hasan Çelebi was an Ottoman scientist, engineer and aviator who, according to the account written by traveller Evliya Çelebi, made a successful crewed rocket flight.
Account
Evliya Çelebi reported that in 1633, Lagari Hasan Çelebi ...
References
17th-century people from the Ottoman Empire
Unpowered flight
1609 births
1640 deaths
Turkish scientists
Scholars of the Ottoman Empire
Aviation pioneers
Glider pilots
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