İsmail Hakkı Baltacıoğlu (28 February 1886 – 1 April 1978) was a Turkish academic, journalist and intellectual. Until 1933 he was a faculty member at Darulfunün, later Istanbul University, of which he was the first rector following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. Following his dismissal from the university in 1933 he published and edited a cultural magazine entitled '' Yeni Adam'' and served as a deputy at the Turkish Parliament from

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

for two terms from 1942 to 1950. He is known as the father of the educational thought and practice of the Republic of Turkey.

Early life and education

He was born in

Cihangir Cihangir is an affluent neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beyoğlu, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 3,739 (2022). It is located between Taksim Square and Kabataş. It has many narrow streets, two parks, and many st ...

district of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, on 28 February 1886. He completed Vefa High School in 1903. There he learned French. He attended Darulfünun, precursor of Istanbul University, next year and received a degree in botany in 1908. He also studied

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

at Darulfunün. Between 1909 and 1911 he was in Europe to study pedagogy and calligraphy.

Career

In 1908 he joined Darulfünun as a faculty member and taught calligraphy. He continued his academic studies after his return from Europe in 1911 and became a professor of pedagogy in 1913. From 1914 he taught psychology at the Teachers School for Girls. In 1921 he was named as the dean of the Faculty of Letters at Darulfünun which he held the post until 1924 when he was appointed rector of the university. He had to resign from office in 1927 due to his support for the student demonstrations against an increase in the price of train tickets. He continued to serve as a faculty member and taught sociology and ethics. In 1930 he joined the Free Republican Party and functioned as the chair of its Istanbul branch. However, it was closed in November 1930 three months after its establishment. He was dismissed from the university in 1933 when a university reform law was put in force. He established a weekly cultural magazine, ''Yeni Adam'', in 1934 and edited it until the 1960s. In 1941 Baltacıoğlu joined Ankara University's Faculty of Language, History and Geography and was promoted to the professorship in pedagogy. Between 1942 and 1950 he was a member of the Parliament for two terms. He was first a deputy for Afyon and then for Kırşehir. In 1956 he started another magazine named ''Din Yolu'' (Turkish: Road of Religion) which ceased publication shortly after its establishment.

Work

In the period between 1914 and 1920 he was a contributor to''

Türk Yurdu ''Türk Yurdu'' is a monthly Turkish magazine that was first published on the 30 November 1911. It was an important magazine propagating Pan-Turkism. It was founded by Yusuf Akçura, Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Ali bey Huseynzade, Ali Hüseynzade. Ziya Gö ...

'' journal. He was among those who played a role in shaping the education of Turkey after its establishment as a republic. He published various books, including ''Talim ve Terbiyede İnkılap'' (Turkish: ''Revolution in Education'') (1912), ''Terbiye ve İman'' (Turkish: ''Discipline and Faith'') (1914), ''Resmin Usul-ü Tedrisi'' (Turkish: ''Procedures of Painting'') (1915), ''Din ve Hayat'' (Turkish: ''Religion and Life'') (1918), ''İçtimai Mektep'' (Turkish: ''Social School'') (1942) and ''Türke Doğru'' (Turkish: ''Towards the Turk'') (1943). There are also numerous articles written by him which are concerned with pedadogy, sociology, arts, religion, philosophy and literature. He translated

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

into Turkish and published it in 1957.

Views and alliances

İsmail Hakkı was a member of the

Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

. He was among those who objected the invasion of Anatolia by the Allied forces and participated in the demonstrations held in Sultanahmet square as a speaker in 1919 against the Greek invasion of İzmir. Baltacıoğlu was a follower of

Émile Durkheim David Émile Durkheim (; or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French Sociology, sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern soci ...

and

Ziya Gökalp Mehmet Ziya Gökalp (born Mehmed Ziya, 23 March 1876 – 25 October 1924) was a Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and politician. After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution that reinstated constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire, he adopted the pen ...

. However, his sociological views were slightly different from theirs. For instance, Baltacıoğlu paid much more attention to religion, language and arts than other social institutions in that for him these three are the basis of a society's traditions. His views were also influenced from the French philosopher

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

. For Baltacıoğlu sociology must "arrange social life." He termed his approach as traditionalism. Baltacıoğlu was a supporter of the policies implemented by the

Presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *''Præsidenten ...

Atatürk and

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...

Later years and death

Baltacıoğlu continued to publish his magazine ''Yeni Adam'' which was closed after his death on 1 April 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltacıoglu, İsmail Hakkı 20th-century scholars 1886 births 1978 deaths Academic staff of Ankara University Academic staff of Istanbul University Darülfünun alumni Turkish magazine founders Turkish sociologists Turkish calligraphers Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Afyonkarahisar Deputies of Kırşehir Turkish botanists Members of the 7th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 8th Parliament of Turkey Vefa High School alumni 20th-century Turkish writers Turkish academic administrators Committee of Union and Progress politicians Liberal Republican Party (Turkey) politicians 20th-century Turkish translators Turkish educators