Çelik Gülersoy (September 23, 1930 in
Hakkâri Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to:
* Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq
*Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey
*Hakkâri Province
Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province ...
– July 6, 2003 in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
) was a Turkish lawyer,
historical preservationist, writer and poet. He is best remembered for the heritage conservation works he carried out on historical sites during his long-time tenure as director general of the
Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey (TTOK).
He was born to a
Kurdish family in
Hakkâri Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to:
* Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq
*Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey
*Hakkâri Province
Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province ...
, Turkey's most southeastern city, where his father was working as a
gendarmerie
A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...
officer but the family moved to
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
in 1933. After completing his education in Istanbul, Gülersoy attended
Istanbul University
Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...
and graduated from its Law School. Following his military service in 1959–1960, he started work as a legal consultant to the TTOK in 1961, having already held several posts there since 1947.
In 1966, Gülersoy became director general of the TTOK, a position he held for 38 years until his death. During this time he reorganised the TTOK to bring in new and much-needed services. He published numerous books on historic sites, mainly in Istanbul, and contributed greatly to the redevelopment of such touristically important areas as Söğükçeşme Sokağı in Sultanahmet and the historic parks such as Emirgan and Yıldız.
Çelik Gülersoy died of pancreatic cancer on July 6, 2003 during a classical music concert at the Fabiato Köşkü (Mansion) on
Büyükada.
He was buried next to his mother's grave in Demirciköy Cemetery in
Sarıyer following a funeral service in
TeÅŸvikiye Mosque
The TeÅŸvikiye Mosque () is a neo-baroque structure located in the TeÅŸvikiye neighbourhood of ÅžiÅŸli district in Istanbul, Turkey.
History
The mosque was originally commissioned in 1794 by Sultan Selim III, but most of the current mosque t ...
. He left all his assets to the Çelik Gülersoy Foundation which still operates a library on
Söğükçeşme Sokağı, behind
Ayasofya.
Notable historical preservations
*
Chora Church
The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque () is a Byzantine architecture, Byzantine church, now converted to a mosque (for the second time), in the Edirnekapı, Istanbul, Edirnekapı neighborhood of Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey. It is famous for ...
environs (1977)
*
Çamlıca Hill (1980)
*
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
and
Çadır pavilions,
Yıldız Park
Yıldız Park () is a historical, urban park in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. The park is located in Yıldız, Beşiktaş, Yıldız quarter between the palaces of Yıldız Palace, Yı ...
(1982)
*
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
,
Pink
Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...
and
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
pavilions,
Emirgan Park (1979-1983)
*
Hotel YeÅŸil Ev,
Sultanahmet (1984)
*
Khedive Palace, Çubuklu (1984)
*
Soğukçeşme Street, Sultanahmet (1985-1986)
*
Kameriye, Feneryolu (1989)
*
Fenerbahçe Park, Fenerbahçe (1990)
Bibliography
* ''
Mehterhane. The Military Band of the Turkish Army. Es Fanfares Des Anciennes Armees Turques'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul
* ''A Guide To Istanbul'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1978) 358 pp (English)
* ''Guide D'Istanbul'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1978) 390 pp (Italian)
* ''Kapalı Çarşının Romanı'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1979) 80 pp (also in French)
* ''Lâle ve İstanbul'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1980)
* Eski İstanbul Arabaları, TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul, (1981) 135 pp
* ''Çamlıca'dan Bakışlar'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1982)
* ''Ihlamur Mesiresi'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1983)
* ''İstanbul Estetiği'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1983)
* ''Yıldız Parkı ve Malta Köşkü'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1983)
* ''Yıldız Parc and Malta Pavilion'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1983) (English)
* ''Kayıklar'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1983) 143 pp
* ''İstanbul'un Anıtsal Ağaçları'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1983)
* ''Dolmabahçe/Çağlarboyu İstanbul Görünümle'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1984)
* ''Edirnekapısı'nda Bir Örnek'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1985)
* ''Hıdivler ve Çubuklu Kasrı'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1985) 196 pp (also in English)
* ''Küçüksu'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1985) (also in English)
* ''Reklamlar ve Biz'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1985)
* ''Taksim: Bir Meydanın Hikayesi'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1986) 143 pp
* ''İstanbul Şarkısı'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1986)
* ''Batıya Doğru'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1987) 165 pp
* ''Göksu'ya Ağıt'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1987) 116 pp
* ''İstanbul Kitaplığı Katalogu 1988'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1988) 526 pp
* ''Tramvay İstanbul'da'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1989)
* ''Kırk Yıl Olmuş'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1989) 240 pp,
* ''Dolmabahçe Palace and Its Environs'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1990)
* ''Mavi Cami'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1990)
* ''Nasıl Bir İstanbul?'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1990)
* ''The Caique'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1991) 225 pp, (English)
* ''Taksim: The Story of A Square'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1991) 143 pp, (English)
* ''Çerâğan Sarayları'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1992) 205 pp,
* ''The Çerâğân Palaces'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1992) 208 pp, (English)
* ''The Khedives and The Çubuklu Summer Palace: Çubuklu Kasrı'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1993) 236 pp, (English)
* ''Tepebaşı: Bir Meydan Savaşı'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1993)
* ''Ayrılış'' (Şiirler), TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1996) 34 pp,
* ''Büyük Çamlıca Tepesi 1908-1995'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1996) 33 pp
* ''Safranbolu'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1997) (also in English)
* ''Büyükada Dün/Yesterday'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1997) 110 pp, (also in English)
* ''Hüzün Yağmuru (Şiirler)'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1997) 32 pp,
* ''Fenerbahçe'si'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1998) 62 pp
* ''Yeşil Ev. Bir Yuva'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1999) 71 pp,
* ''Yeşil Ev. A Home'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1999) 71 pp, (English)
* ''Cumhuriyet'in Devraldığı İstanbul'dan Bugüne: Istanbul, from the birth of the Republic to the present day, the metamorphosis of a legacy'', Sınai Kalkınma Bankası, Istanbul (1999)
* ''Beyoğlu'nun Yitip Gitmiş 3 Oteli'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (1999)
* ''Çankaya 57'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2001) 32 pp,
* ''Büyükada Yetimhanesi'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2001) 36 pp,
* ''A. Şinasi Hisar'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2001) 34 pp,
* ''Soğukçeşme Sokağı'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2001) 80 pp,
* ''Atatürk Atatürk'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2001) 76 pp,
* ''Soğukçeşme Street'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2002) 80 pp, .
* ''Atatürk Albümü'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2002) 40 pp,
* ''Beyoğlu'nda Gezerken'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2003) 175 pp,
* ''Bir Masal'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2003) 40 pp,
* ''Pierre Loti ve Dersaadet'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2003) 19 pp
* ''Pierre Loti et Son İstanbul'', TTOK Yayınları, Istanbul (2003) 19 pp (French)
* ''Kariye (Chora)'', Turing (also in English, French, German and Italian)
* ''Çelik Gülersoy Albümü'', İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''Beşiktaş Daha Dün'', İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''Bâb-ı Âli'', with M. Nermi Haskan, İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''Dolmabahçe Sarayı'' (English), İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''Esentepe'ye Veda'', İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''İstanbul Rehberi'' (French), İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''Hükümet Kapısı Bab-ı Ali Kuruluşundan Cumhuriyete Kadar'', with Mehmet Nermi Haskan, İstanbul Kitaplığı
* ''İstanbul Maceramız'', Remzi Kitabevi
* ''İstanbul Maceramız II'', Remzi Kitabevi
Recognitions
* 1976 -
Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana
* 1979 -
Ordre national du Mérite
The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
* 1980 - "Plaque of Honor" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey
* 1986 - Honorary Doctor of the
Black Sea Technical University,
Trabzon
Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...
* 1986 - Honorary Doctor of the
Boğaziçi University
Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...
, Istanbul
* 1998 - Honorary Doctor of the
Anadolu University,
EskiÅŸehir
EskiÅŸehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the EskiÅŸehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630.
The city is l ...
* 2000 - "Grand Award of Culture and Arts" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey
Biography
* İbrahimhakkıoğlu, Uğur. ''Çelik Gülersoy Senfonisi'', İstanbul Kitaplığı, 561 pp.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulersoy, Celik
1930 births
People from Hakkâri
Lawyers from Istanbul
2003 deaths
Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni
Writers from Istanbul
Historical preservationists
20th-century Turkish lawyers
Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Turkey