Sadi Gülçelik (22 October 1930–19 August 1980) was a Turkish

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and entrepreneur. SadiGülçelik was born 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, ...

, Turkey on 22 October 1930. He played for

Galatasaray Volleyball Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

and

Galatasaray Basketball Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, which was nicknamed "The invincible Armada" ( tr, Yenilmez Armada), Gülçelik was also part of the basketball teams Karagücü and Modaspor. He participated at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He scored 206 points in total for the

Turkey national basketball team The Turkey men's national basketball team ( tr, Türkiye Millî Basketbol Takımı) represents Turkey in international basketball tournaments. They are governed by the Turkish Basketball Federation. Their nickname is the ''12 Dev Adam'', meanin ...

. He graduated from

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

as a civil engineer and established Enka Construction Co. with his brother-in-law

Şarık Tara Şarık Tara (born Šarik Hadžihamzić; 22 April 1930 – 28 June 2018) was a Turkish billionaire who founded Enka İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş., Turkey's largest construction company, with Sadi Gülçelik, in 1957. As well as being an internationa ...

in 1957. Gülçelik died in an

air disaster An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

on 19 August 1980. A sports complex, Enka Sadi Gülçelik Spor Sitesi, in

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Rumelifeneri, Tarabya, Yeniköy, İstinye, Emirgan and Rumelihisarı. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea c ...

, Istanbul is named in his honor.

References

1929 births Basketball players from Istanbul Istanbul Technical University alumni Turkish civil engineers Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Turkish men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Turkey Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Gülcelik, Sadi Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Saudi Arabia 1980 deaths {{Turkey-business-bio-stub